Vitamin D is a vitamin. It can be found in small amounts in a few foods, including fatty fish such as herring, mackerel, sardines and tuna. To make vitamin D more available, it is added to dairy products, juices, and cereals that are then said to be “fortified with vitamin D.” But most vitamin D – 80% to 90% of what the body gets – is obtained through exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D can also be made in the laboratory as medicine.
Vitamin D is used for preventing and treating rickets, a disease that is caused by not having enough vitamin D (vitamin D deficiency). Vitamin D is also used for treating weak bones (osteoporosis), bone pain (osteomalacia), bone loss in people with a condition called hyperparathyroidism, and an inherited disease (osteogenesis imperfecta) in which the bones are especially brittle and easily broken. It is also used for preventing falls and
fractures
in people at risk for osteoporosis, and preventing low
calcium and bone loss (renal osteodystrophy) in people with
kidney failure.
Vitamin D is used for conditions of the heart and blood vessels, including
high blood pressure and
high cholesterol. It is also used for
diabetes,
obesity, muscle weakness,
multiple sclerosis,
rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
asthma,
bronchitis,
premenstrual syndrome
(PMS), and
tooth
and gum disease.
Some people use vitamin D for skin conditions including
vitiligo,
scleroderma,psoriasis, actinic keratosis, and lupus vulgaris.
It is also used for boosting the immune system, preventing
autoimmune diseases, and preventing
cancer.
Because vitamin D is involved in regulating the levels of minerals such as phosphorous and calcium, it is used for conditions caused by low levels of phosphorous (familial hypophosphatemia
and Fanconi syndrome) and low levels of calcium (
hypoparathyroidism and
pseudohypoparathyroidism).
Vitamin D in forms known as calcitriol or
calcipotriene
is applied directly to the skin for a particular type of psoriasis.
If you travel to Canada, you may have noticed that Canada recognizes the importance of vitamin D in the
prevention of osteoporosis. It allows this health claim for foods that contain calcium: "A
healthy diet
with adequate calcium and vitamin D, and regularphysical activity, help to achieve strong bones and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.” But the US version of this osteoporosis health claim does not yet include vitamin D.
Vitamin D is required for the regulation of the minerals calcium and phosphorus found in the body. It also plays an important role in maintaining proper bone structure.
Sun exposure is an easy, reliable way for most people to get vitamin D. Exposure of the hands, face, arms, and legs to sunlight two to three times a week for about one-fourth of the time it would take to develop a mild sunburn will cause the skin to produce enough vitamin D. The necessary exposure time varies with age, skin type, season, time of day, etc.
It’s amazing how quickly adequate levels of vitamin D can be restored by sunlight. Just 6 days of casual sunlight exposure without sunscreen can make up for 49 days of no sunlight exposure. Body fat acts like a kind of storage battery for vitamin D. During periods of sunlight, vitamin D is stored in fatty fat and then released when sunlight is gone.
Nevertheless, vitamin D deficiency is more common than you might expect. People who don’t get enough sun, especially people living in Canada and the northern half of the US, are especially at risk. Vitamin D deficiency also occurs even in sunny climates, possibly because people are staying indoors more, covering up when outside, or using sunscreens consistently these days to reduce skin cancer risk.
Older people are also at risk for vitamin D deficiency. They are less likely to spend time in the sun, have fewer “receptors” in their skin that convert sunlight to vitamin D, may not get vitamin D in their diet, may have trouble absorbing vitamin D even if they do get it in their diet, and may have more trouble converting dietary vitamin D to a useful form due to aging kidneys. In fact, the risk for vitamin D deficiency in people over 65 years of age is very high. Surprisingly, as many as 40% of older people even in sunny climates such as South Florida don’t have enough vitamin D in their systems.
Vitamin D supplements may be necessary for older people, people living in northern latitudes, and for dark-skinned people who need extra tim
