My Orthopaedic Surgeon has said my joint symptoms are secondary to Vitamin D deficiency: What is Vitamin D?

Because it is synthesized in your skin as a response to sunlight, vitamin D is also sometimes known as the Sunshine Vitamin. If you want to keep your body functioning well then it needs to have vitamin D in abundance. It helps to strengthen your bones and prevent some cancers. Vitamin D is naturally produced in your body when it is exposed to direct sunlight but you can also get it from certain foods to maintain the balance amongst the other vitamins of your body.

You may have been told by your orthopedic surgeon that your joint symptoms are the result of vitamin D deficiency in your body. Perhaps you may be wondering what this means and how you will cope up with the situation. If that’s the case, then there is no need to worry because in this article we will tell you everything that you need to know about vitamin D and how you can resolve the deficiency of vitamin D in your body.

What is Vitamin D Deficiency?

Vitamin D deficiency means you are not having a sufficient amount of Vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D is unique and different from other vitamins because your skin produces it in the presence of sunlight. Individuals that are young and have fair skin convert sunlight to Vitamin D far better as compared to those that have darker skin or those old in age. Vitamin D is crucial to your body because its deficiency can cause several issues with your bones like Osteomalacia (Soft Bones) and Osteoporosis (Fragile bones).

Why is Vitamin D Important For Our Body?

Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins of our body as it helps one to stay healthy. Vitamin D has many functions in our body like:

Bones Strengthening

If you have healthy bones in your body then you can protect yourself from many diseases like rickets. Rickets is a medical condition in which the bones of children become weak and soft. The main reason due to which rickets occurs is the deficiency of vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D, Calcium, and Phosphorus are the building blocks of our bones. In adults, the deficiency of vitamin D results in soft bones, and this condition is known as Osteomalacia.

Absorbing calcium

As discussed earlier, vitamin D along with calcium helps to build bones. Weak bones can lead to several issues, namely fractures. Your bone density reduces considerably and ultimately you suffer from fractures. When you get adequate amount of vitamin D from sunlight or orally, it becomes active in your body and helps with the absorption of calcium from your diet. As a result, your bones become stronger and you feel healthy.

Working with parathyroid glands

The parathyroid glands present in your bodywork every minute to balance the amount of calcium in your blood and to communicate with kidneys and skeleton. In the presence of sufficient amounts of dietary calcium and sufficient vitamin D, dietary calcium is absorbed and put to good use throughout the body. Insufficient calcium or low vitamin D levels cause the parathyroid glands to ‘borrow’ calcium from the bone, which allows blood calcium levels to remain within a normal range.

What are the sources of Vitamin D?

You can get Vitamin D from a lot of sources like:

• Usually, 15-20 minutes of exposure to the sun three days a week will be sufficient.
• You can get it from the diet that you eat.
• You can get it from nutritional supplements.

How Much Vitamin D is Required by Humans?

For Infants and Babies

The vitamin D requirement for breastfeeding babies till the age one year is 8.5 to 10 micrograms.  As infant formula is fortified with vitamin D, formula-fed babies ought not to have more than 500ml (about a pint) a day of vitamin D. If your child is aged between 1-4 years, then they need to take at least 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily.

For small babies that cannot take vitamin D from sunlight or feed a diet containing vitamin D, you can purchase vitamin D supplements or vitamin drops containing vitamin D.

For Adults

In mediterranean climates where the sun is not as accessible in autumns and winters, you may need to need to fulfill the needs of Vitamin D from your diet during these periods. Summer and spring are the best times to get vitamin D directly from Sun. However, for some people, sunlight is not enough to fulfill the needs of vitamin D in their body so they may be encouraged to take additional supplements to cope with their needs.

What Happens If You Take Excessive Amount of Vitamin D?

If you consume too much Vitamin D supplements for a long-time period then it can result in too much calcium buildup in your body which is harmful. It can weaken our bones and cause heart and kidney problems. Usually, 10 micrograms of vitamin D is enough for adults for one day but you shouldn’t take more than 100 micrograms a day because it is harmful and can be punitive.

The amount of vitamin D consumed by children one to four years old should not exceed 50 micrograms every day. For infants, the safe amount of vitamin D is 25 micrograms and it shouldn’t exceed this figure.

Some people have medical conditions and their doctors may recommend for them to take a certain amount of vitamin D each day. It is important for them to follow the doctor’s advice and stick to the amount that they are advised to take. Another thing you need to keep in mind is that if you’re absorbing vitamin D from the sun, then you cannot overdose on it. However, it is important to cover your skin if it is exposed to sunlight for a long time period. This reduces the risk of skin cancer and skin damage.

Conclusion

Now it is clear why vitamin D is so important for our body. If you have a deficiency of vitamin D in your body then you can use a healthy diet containing vitamin D and consider vitamin D supplements to fulfill the vitamin D requirements in your body. You should avoid overdosing on vitamin D because it also results in bone damage and several other problems.

If you want to learn more about the role of vitamin D in your body or have any questions, then please contact Dr. Gowreeson Thevendran or visit www.orthofootmd.com.