Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is the only vitamin synthesized inside the skin when exposed to the ultraviolet B rays of the sun. Thus, it can be also known as ‘sunshine vitamin’. Besides sunlight, vitamin D is also readily available for some foods including cheese, butter, cream, fortified milk, margarine, oysters and fish. It’s absorbed from the intestines like fat and is stored within the body’s fatty tissues. But, what exactly is vitamin D good for? Vitamin D maintains the level of calcium and phosphorous in the blood, therefore, is essential for healthy teeth and bones. Having said that, when the level of this vitamin D dips within the body, the body is observed to be affected negatively. Read a lot more on what causes low vitamin D levels inside the blood to understand the factors responsible for it. Let’s have a look at the consequences of low vitamin D levels in the blood.
Effects of Low Vitamin D Levels in Blood
When the levels of vitamin D inside the blood is 17.8 nanograms per milliliter or lower, it is referred to as low vitamin D levels in blood or vitamin D deficiency. The sad portion is that the symptoms of low vitamin D levels do not surface, until it is too late. Let’s have a take a look at some of them.
Osteomalacia and Rickets
Vitamin D has been known to play a prominent role in skeletal health as it assists in the absorption of calcium and thereby promotes strong, healthy bones. However, vitamin D deficiency conduces to debilitation of the skeletal system. The bones turn out to be frail, weak and brittle. In children, inadequate levels of vitamin D causes a condition called rickets, even though in adults it causes osteomalacia.
Decline in Overall Cognition
In a study published in July 12, 2010, problem of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, it was said that ‘Older adults with low levels of vitamin D appear additional likely to expertise declines in thinking, understanding and memory over a six-year period’. Therefore, vitamin D deficiency is linked to cognitive decline.
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