Vitamin D Deficiency - Causes and Tips
Vitamin D Deficiency - Causes and Tips
Vitamin D Deficiency - Causes and Tips
Author: Health Shelf
Scientists have known for decades that vitamin D deficiency causes rickets and other diseases of bones. Recently, however, it was revealed the connection between low levels of vitamin D in the body with a number of other diseases such as some forms of cancer. The human body produces vitamin D by exposure to sunlight. Nevertheless, some of the sunniest areas in the world recorded the highest rate of lack of vitamin D. There are several factors that contribute to dangerously low levels of vitamin D in blood, in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Bone health is dependent on vitamin D, says Ambrish Mithal from the Indian Society for study of bone mineral density:
"Vitamin D absorb calcium into our body and helps it to reach the bones. Deficiency of this vitamin results in weak bones, and when the bones are weak, easily get bent and broken."
To get enough of vitamin D is relatively easy, continues Ambrish Mithal:
"The main source is the sunlight. Vitamin D is produced under the influence of ultraviolet rays from direct sunlight.Organism creates it in the skin."
But, according to a recent report by the International Foundation for osteoporosis, some of the sunniest regions of the world have the highest rate of vitamin D deficiency. It is the e result of tests conducted by the Foundation for three decades. Ambrish Mithal is one of two co-authors of the report. Deficiency of the vitamin D, he says, is a global phenomenon, but in some countries, this problem is especially pronounced. In India, for example, and Lebanon. Almost 80%, and sometimes more, the urban population in these countries suffer from a significant lack of vitamin D. Ambrish Mithal points to several factors:
"Those who live near the equator rarely suffer from a lack of vitamin D, but this fact is sometimes influenced by other factors such as skin pigmentation, less outdoor activity, greater skin surface covered by clothing."
Expert on vitamin D Michael Holick, of Boston University Medical Center, explains why darker-skinned people have lower levels of vitamin D than light-skinned, even when they live in the same country:
"Their melanin, which protects the skin against excessive exposure to sunlight, and prevents them from making vitamin D, it is a major reason. Therefore, Americans of African descent should be exposed to the sun three to five times longer than whites in order to create the same amount of vitamin D .
Co-author of the report of the International Foundation for Osteoporosis - Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, Medical Center at American University in Beirut - explains why people in the Middle East can spend lots of time outdoors, and does not absorb enough vitamin D:
"In the middle-eastern countries, a large number of people wearing traditional, conservative clothing. Women, however, with more modern views, which do not wear these clothes, use lots of protective cream. Even protective factors as low as six or eight of these preparations can completely prevent skin's ability to produce vitamin D. "
That is one of the reasons, says Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, why women generally have lower levels of vitamin D. Deficiency of this vitamin causes another concern. Newer medical discoveries, "says Michael Holick, indicating a much greater threat than thought so far:
"The thing we were not aware of until a decade ago, it was found that vitamin D may reduce the risk of many chronic diseases - diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza, and may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, and most importantly - from deadly cancers. "
Vitamin D can be obtained by proper nutrition. In United States and other countries, some food products are added with vitamin D. However, Michael Holick warns that it is not enough:
"Children need a thousand units a day, adolescents and adults, two thousand. By nutrition it is not possible to obtain an adequate amount of vitamin D."
Michael Holick and other experts, such as Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, now recommend to spend little more time in the sun:
"We are fully aware of the dangers of skin cancer, but we recommend finding a happy compromise, for example - the first ten minutes, three times a week in the sun without protective creams on the skin can produce vitamin D, and then we can protect from the sun."
For those who spend more time in the closed space, her advice is taking vitamin D as a dietary supplement. Although the World Health Organization said that most people get enough vitamin D from sunlight and through diet, in light of new research and its results, WHO has launched his own and may issue new recommendations.
Read more articles here: Health Shelf
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