How to Treat Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

Vitamin D is a very important nutrient for the body since it has very important functions. This helps in the regulation of calcium and phosphate levels in the blood, it promotes growth of the bones, prevents the occurrence of rickets in children, it protects adults from having osteoporosis and a lot more. When you do not have enough intake of this nutrient, it will result to you having Vitamin D deficiency symptoms.

Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D can happen to anyone and it occurs in three situations. The first one is when the body requires more Vitamin D or an increased need of this particular nutrient. This happens to women who are pregnant and breast-feeding and to children who are growing up. The second situation is the inability of the body to synthesize enough Vitamin D for your needs. Those who are at risk for developing hypovitaminosis D are those who do not get enough sunshine, those with dark skin colors, the elderly and some medical conditions which include celiac disease, kidney and liver diseases and Crohn’s disease. The last situation is when you do not have enough vitamin D intake from your diet which occurs mostly in vegetarians and those who don’t eat fish.

Vitamin D deficiency symptoms can be vague which makes it difficult to diagnose for health practitioners. Some may only manifest general aches or body weakness which makes it difficult to identify. It helps however to be aware of the different vitamin D deficiency symptoms so that you can consult your physician if you have them. For babies and children, you will notice that there is poor growth especially for the height, tooth delay, irritability, susceptibility to infections, disorders in the soft skull and leg bones, breathing difficulties, muscle spasms and seizures. For adults, the most common vitamin D deficiency symptoms are body pains that are often felt at the thighs, hips, ribs, feet and pelvis and easy fatigability even if you did not do exhausting jobs. These will worsen as the condition gets severe and it can lead to difficulties with doing simple activities such as climbing up the stairs and even standing up. In some, you will notice that they have a waddling pattern when walking.

Vitamin D deficiency is highly preventable especially if you know that you are prone to developing this condition. Aside from increasing your dietary intake of vitamin D, it is also recommended that you take supplements. However, if you are already diagnosed with this condition, you will have to undergo treatment. The treatment will focus on providing you with vitamin D but the dosage and method will depend on your condition. There are injections that can last for six months and is a very effective treatment. Tablets and liquids come in different doses and these will be given to you according to what your body needs. Once your condition has been treated, you will need to have a maintenance treatment to prevent recurrence of the disease. For this, the dosage of vitamin D will be lower than what you have taken in when you are still under treatment.

Knowing that vitamin D deficiency is easily prevented, it would be better to take precautions before you suffer from this disorder. Increase your intake of this nutrient to avoid the different vitamin D deficiency symptoms.