Vitamin D is crucial to overall health, including the development and growth of teeth and bones.
Vitamin D
Aside from playing a vital role in bone strength, vitamin D plays a vital role when it comes to supporting the immune system and other important functions of the body, such as inflammation regulation and immune function.
Vitamin D helps with the maintenance of adequate levels of phosphorus and calcium in the blood, which is crucial for healthy bone mineralization. It also aids with calcium absorption in the intestine.
Aside from this, vitamin D can also support the immune system and reduce autoimmune disease risk.
Vitamin D is produced as a sun exposure response. There are also foods and supplements that could boost one's vitamin D levels. Food sources of vitamin D include fatty fish, cheese, egg yolks, beef liver, mushrooms, fortified juices and cereals, and fortified milk.
Despite its label, vitamin D is actually a hormone or prohormone, not a vitamin.
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Vitamin D Deficiency: What Happens?
Though the body produces vitamin D, there are certain individuals who have a higher risk of becoming vitamin D deficient. There are certain factors that could affect this likelihood, such as insufficient sun exposure and skin color.
While most people facing vitamin D deficiency do not exhibit symptoms, chronic vitamin D deficiency could lead to hypocalcemia and hyperparathyroidism. Hypocalcemia is a chronic disease pertaining to calcium deficiency, while hyperparathyroidism refers to how the parathyroid glands create a hormonal imbalance that raises the calcium levels in the blood.
Such conditions can also result in secondary symptoms, such as osteoporosis, bone fragility, bone pain, muscle twitching, fatigue, muscle weakness, joint stiffness (arthralgias), or muscle pain (myalgias).
Vitamin D deficiency that persists for prolonged periods could also lead to complications. These complications include autoimmune issues, cardiovascular conditions, infections, neurological disorders, certain cancers, and pregnancy complications.
Among children and infants, getting adequate vitamin D is crucial, as they are still in a period where bone growth happens rapidly. A chronic deficiency of vitamin D could lead to rickets, which refers to bone tissue softening that could lead to the joints and bones' malformation.
Deficiency has also been connected to hypertension and high blood pressure among children. An earlier study discovered that low vitamin D deficiency could be linked to arterial wall stiffness among children.
When it comes to pregnancy, a review argues that pregnant individuals with a vitamin D deficiency have higher likelihoods of having a preterm birth or getting preeclampsia. There is also research that links poor levels of vitamin D with gestational diabetes.
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