Vitamin D Deficiency and Your Health

With children, rickets is the most common manifestation and consequence of vitamin D deficiency, while with adults, the disease is known as osteomalacia. In the absence of vitamin D, the body cannot metabolize or absorb calcium and phosphorus, the minerals with the most important role for skeletal development. New-born babies and infants up to two years of age require constant administration of vitamin D under pediatric observation to insure that they develop correctly.

Normally the body can secret and store vitamin D following sun exposure. Insufficient sun exposure, mal-absorption and the action of some drugs represent the most common causes for vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency can be treated with supplements and a diet rich in fatty fish. Only the doctor can determine the right dosage considering the patient’s age and the stage of the health condition. Children and senior citizens are the most likely to develop vitamin D deficiency.

Children are prone to vitamin D deficiency because of the accelerated growth rate, dental eruption and skeletal development. Mothers should be careful to take their kids to periodical medical checkups and make sure that they have a balanced nutrition and healthy open air activities. As for the elderly, the body’s capacity to produce and store vitamin D declines with advancing age. An older person will need twice more vitamin D from food than a young person. This is one of the reasons why so many middle aged and elderly women develop osteoporosis. 

Children with advanced vitamin D deficiency show a bowing of the legs and a modification in the bone structure of the rib cage. The sternum deepens in the chest and the rigs become protruding. In adults, severe vitamin D deficiency could be manifest with bone and muscular pains. The examination involves the pressing of the sternum bone and the tibia. The consequences of vitamin D deficiency are obvious in the bone structure.

The treatment for vitamin D deficiency should be immediate and intense, following the specificity of the condition and the patient’s health history. Blood tests, manual examination and radiology tests usually make the basis for diagnosis. The calcium level in the blood is often considered relevant for the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency. Enough sun exposure and a balanced diet help to the treatment of vitamin D deficiency. Pay attention to the use of medication that prevents calcium absorption.

Speed up Your Metabolism? Vitamin Supplement Information Aromatherapy Information Metoblika#234