Vitamin D Deficiency Can Lead To Rickets, Osteomalacia And Osteoporosis
Vitamin D deficiency may often result in a particular form of disease known as rickets that appears in most instances in young children that are aged from six months and up to two years and this condition causes reduction in the calcification of bones that are in their growing stage. One of the characteristics of this condition is that there is failure of any growth, deformity may be noticed in bones and there is also muscular hypotonia and more such as tetany and convulsions caused by hypo-calcemia.
Concentrated Alkaline Phosphates In Serum
Vitamin D deficiency can also result in greater concentration of alkaline phosphates in serum and when the bones become deformed you will notice legs looking curved, pelvis is deformed and there are also pigeon chests and more, and children may reach the stage of walking as well as teething a bit later than is normal.
Vitamin D deficiency in adults is known as osteomalacia that is mostly prevalent in women and more particularly when they are undergoing pregnancy and also lactation which is when their bodies would require more vitamin D than otherwise. This condition as well as rickets is very prevalent in India though the problem is not so extensive to be considered as being a public health problem.
Vitamin D deficiency in the entire world has shown signs of decreasing and this can be attributed to changes in customs such as the purdah system and also because there are more mother and child health care services that offer better treatment to infants as well as to children, though the problem of rickets continues to trouble the developing countries of the world and are a real threat to health of children.
There are certain steps that can be taken to prevent vitamin D deficiency and these include needing to educate the parents that it is advisable to expose their offspring to regular doses of sunshine as well as periodically dosing the little ones with vitamin D as well as with vitamin D foods such as milk. However, there is need to exercise caution with regard to oral supplementation since when vitamin D is orally taken it can bypass the mechanism that protects form formation of excess of 25 (OH) D 3 formation.
There are also other ill effects of suffering from vitamin D deficiency and in some countries it is even a major health problem in the way that it affects both men and women since the condition causes a person to not be able to absorb calcium which will then cause osteoporosis to develop.
