Vitamin D and its fantastic role for the body. The explanations of the specialists from CFR Timisoara Hospital – Timisoara’s opinion

TIMISOARA. They have a very important contribution in maintaining health and should not be too little, but not too much in the body. Specialists from Timisoara CF Hospital talk about the role of vitamins, especially during this winter.

Pharmacist Adela Filipescu from the health unit offers a series of valuable information related to Vitamin D.

Vitamin D (anti-rickets vitamin) is a fat-soluble vitamin (soluble in fats and oils), which can be produced by the human body, in the skin, under the influence of sunlight. Also, the body can take it from food (liver, fatty dairy products, egg yolk, fatty fish and brewer’s yeast) in the form of provitamin D2 which, through metabolism, turns into cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) which has therapeutic activity.

The role of vitamins D in the body:

💢 stimulates the absorption of calcium at the intestinal level;
💢 contributes to maintaining calcium in the body by reducing urinary elimination;
💢 when the level of calcium in the bone tissue decreases, vitamin D increases the level of calcium in the blood and thus stimulates bone remineralization;

🟥HYPOvitaminosis (vitamin D deficiency) can occur:

📍️ through insufficient exposure to the sun (winter period, people who spend a lot of time in spaces without natural light);
📍 insufficient food intake (diets, non-diversified food);
📍 in people with liver or biliary diseases (bile acids are indispensable for the absorption of vitamin D, and the liver transforms food nutrients into vitamin D with a therapeutic effect);
📍 in people with kidney problems (nephrotic syndrome, chronic kidney disease);
📍 in people with diseases that decrease the intestinal absorption of nutrients (biliary cirrhosis, short bowel syndrome or surgical intestinal resection, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, Crohn’s disease, cystic fibrosis, celiac disease);
📍 in the condition called hypoparathyroidism;
📍 in cutaneous tuberculosis;
📍 during pregnancy or breastfeeding, in children born prematurely, during growth – including adolescence.

Last but not least, vitamin D deficiency can be secondary to chronic drug treatment (phenobarbital, phenytoin, corticosteroids in high doses, drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis).

Manifestations of HYPOvitaminosis D:
⭕️ the child develops a disease called rickets, characterized by bone deformations, dentition damage, muscle weakness;
⭕️ in adults, osteomalacia appears, which is manifested by bone pain, fractures and deformations of the pelvic bones. Osteomalacia is more common in women than in men.

Among the less specific symptoms:
– chronic fatigue
– lack of muscle tone
– muscular cramps
– breathing problems
– heart problems

🟥HYPERvitaminosis D occurs when taking high doses of vitamin D (>4000 iu/day in a healthy adult) and is manifested by digestive disorders (nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, intestinal transit disorders), kidney problems (proteinuria, kidney stones), cardiovascular disorders (arrhythmias, calcification of the arteries), muscle pain, osteoporosis, asthenia.

In the fetus, due to overdose during pregnancy, aortic stenosis and suppression of the function of the parathyroid glands may occur. Growth delays can be registered in children.

‼️HYPERvitaminosis occurs only through the consumption of food supplements in excess, never through exposure to the sun or through classic food intake.

🟥Treatment: besides the multitude of food supplements (more or less effective and safe) there are medicines that contain vitamin D3, both in the form of oral solution and in the form of tablets.

The daily requirement of vitamin D units must be determined by a doctor, so that the treatment is effective and there is no risk of overdose. Especially during pregnancy, it is recommended that vitamin D be brought into the body only through prenatal vitamin complexes that are specially dosed for this sensitive period for both the mother and the child.