Have you checked your blood vitamin D level, lately?-by Dr Harold Gunatillake

Transcript: Why is it so important to check your vitamin D, today?
Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is essential for optimal health, especially in the present climate with the COVID pandemic. Vitamin D, is required to absorb calcium and phosphate from our diet, and those minerals are important for healthy bones, teeth and muscles. Vitamin D deficiency is common among people, living with no symptoms, and in fact, it is estimated that about 1 billion people worldwide do not get enough of this vitamin.

In Sri Lanka, though it is a sunny tropical island, the incidence of vitamin D deficiency is high. Though they customerally don’t wear hats, avoid the sun as much as possible, ladies use umbrellas outdoor. Reasons for vitamin D deficiency include low vitamin D intake, relatively high adiposity, sun exposure avoidance and wearing of a covered dress style for cultural reasons. Possible health effects of deficiency include bone diseases such as rickets and hypocalcaemia in children and osteomalacia in adults. Vitamin D deficiency may also increase the risk of other chronic diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is more common during the rainy season from
August till October.

In dark people, the melanin seems to absorb the UV rays that initiates vitamin D synthesis, and as a result decreases the vitamin D production. Dark skin people need to spend longer in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D as someone with a lighter skin. Spending time in the sun is a good way to get your daily dose of vitamin D. However, sufficient sun exposure is difficult for many people to achieve.

Supplements are available, and both vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3 can be taken in supplement form.
What is the difference between vitamin D2 and D3?
When we talk of vitamin D, we are talking about vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 and D3 are both widely used vitamin D supplements but are not the same. Vitamin D2 is ergocalciferol and comes from plant-based sources. Vitamin D3 is cholecalciferol and comes from animal-based sources.25 Feb 2020. Vitamin D3 may be less toxic if you load yourself in excess without knowing, because higher concentrations of D2 circulate in the blood when consumed, compared to vitamin D3. Vitamin D3, binds to the receptors in the human tissues. Basically, both vitamin D2 and D3 are fat soluble, meaning that you must take fat in your diet to get them absorbed.

Both vitamin D2 and D3 help your body absorb calcium and phosphorus from your food.The right amount of calcium and phosphorus is important for building and keeping your bones strong. Achieving adequate levels of vitamin D in your blood may help boost immunity and protect you from diseases like osteoporosis and cancer
Osteoporosis a term used for bone softening and is a condition you get as you age, and vitamin D supplements may be required to prevent it. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends an intake of 800 to 1000
international units of vitamin D3 per day for adults over age 50. Vitamin D deficiency leads in hyperthyroidism leading to bone loss. Low blood levels of vitamin D are found in both hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) as well as hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid), in Graves’ disease. Low levels of vitamin D are also associated with autoimmune thyroid disease, as in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease.

There are certain vitamins and minerals that are vital for bodily functions, including thyroid health. They are Selenium, Zinc, Calcium, and vitamin D. To prevent thyroid disease the recommended daily allowance or RDA, for vitamin D is 600 IU: A tip is that if you have thyroid disease, in addition to the minerals and vitamins mentioned, celery is a great source of several nutrients and antioxidants that reduce inflammation, support your thyroid and overall health.
How does sunshine produce vitamin D in your skin? When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it interacts with a protein called 7-DHC in the skin, converting it into vitamin D3, the active form of vitamin D. DHC stands for 7-
Dehydrocholesterol. Dehydrocholesterol in the skin is also called ‘provitamin D3’. The sun’s ultraviolet rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells and provides energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur.
Calcitriol helps to absorb calcium from the stomach. Calcitriol is used to treat hyperparathyroidism (overactive parathyroid glands) and metabolic bone disease in people who have chronic kidney failure and are not receiving dialysis.

Calcitriol is essential for normal bone cells called osteoblasts to form and prevent osteoporosis. From where do we get vitamin D other than from the sunshine? Yes, through your diet. Oily fish such as salmon, mackeral, herring and sardines , red meat and eggs Mushrooms are excellent source of vit D2. Cows milk, Soy milk, Orange juice, Cereals and oatmeal. Side effects Being a fat soluble vitamin, it can accumulate if you take excess and build up toxic symptoms, such as fatigue, forgetfulness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech and many other symptoms.
Vitamin D levels greater than 100ng/ml (250 nmol/l) are considered potentially harmful. Because the vitamin is stored in body fat and released into the bloodstream slowly, the effects of toxicity may last for several months after you stop taking supplements. The bottom Line is that Vitamin D is extremely important for over all health,
including preventing infections. You may be on a healthy diet, but it is important to check on your blood levels of
Vitamin D. Generally speaking, 4,000 IU or less per day is considered safe as long as your blood values are being monitored. Hope this video talk was useful. Do not forget to subscribe. Stay safe, goodbye for now. Study confirms high doses of vitamin D have no effect on COVID-19 Written by Robby Berman on May 04, 2021 There has been much discussion about the role of vitamin D in COVID-19. However, new research concludes that it has no value as a therapy for COVID-19.
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