The Facts You Never Knew About Vitamin D

With children, rickets is the most common manifestation and consequence of vitamin D deficiency, while with adults, the disease is known as osteomalacia. Without enough vitamin D, the body cannot metabolize or absorb calcium and phosphorus, the minerals with the most important role for skeletal development. For babies up to two years of age, the administration of vitamin D in supplements is a must in order to ensure harmonious body evolution.

Vitamin D is also produced and temporarily stored by the body following sun exposure. Yet, with the over-emphasized need to protect ourselves from sun radiation, we have come to increase the phenomenon of vitamin D deficiency due to insufficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is 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.

The accelerated growth rate, dental eruption and skeletal development go hand in hand with vitamin D deficiency in children. 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. For senior citizens, vitamin D deficiency appears because of the body's incapacity to produce and store vitamin D. This is why an average older person requires a higher dietary intake of vitamin D. 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. Ribs become protruding and the sternum will deepen into the chest. 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. These are the bones that usually reveal the consequences of vitamin D deficiency.

The treatment for vitamin D deficiency should be immediate and intense, following the specificity of the condition and the patient's health history. Diagnosis is possible only by undergoing radiology tests, manual examination and blood tests. 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. If you use medication that interferes with calcium absorption make sure to take measures to counteract such problems.

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