Now a days with the changing lifestyles most people now work indoors due to which direct exposure to sunlight has become very less. Most professionals come to work early, work indoors and leave after sunset thereby resulting in minimal exposure to sunlight.
This has led to a deficiency of Vitamin D in them. Vitamin D plays a major role in maintaining bone strength. It is produced in the body on exposure to sunlight.
Besides this, one can also find this vitamin in a few dietary sources such as tuna, salmon and in dairy products like cheese and butter. However the main source of the vitamin is the production in one’s body.
Vitamin D is converted into it’s active form called Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) in liver and kidney. New research studies show that Vitamin D plays a much larger and wider role in our body than just bones. It is seen that supplementation of Vitamin D is shown to decrease death rates in elderly women and the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases is reduced. The Vitamin also helps in reducing the development of Multiple sclerosis which is expectedly higher in geographical regions.
It helps in strengthen immunity as well which is why influenza infections are higher in winters. It not only helps in reducing the risk of infection but also helps in the reduction of hair fall.
In order to increase the Vitamin D intake, Expose yourselves to adequate sunlight i.e. at least 15 minutes a day during mid-day and leave your face and arms uncovered when you are exposed to sunlight.
The people most at risk are those who spend most of the times indoors, people with fat malabsorption problem or who have undergone gastric bypass surgery, IT professionals, doctors, old people.
A word of caution however, toxicity can occur if Vitamin D is taken in high doses for a long time. Some of the side-effects include increased blood calcium levels, loss appetite, vomiting, Polyuria, polysypsia and can lead to renal failure as well. Hence treatment should only be taken under a doctor’s direction and supervision.
Dr K Sudhir Reddy, Consultant Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon, Nova Specialty Surgery