ISSN 2348-313X (Print) International Journal of Life Sciences Research ISSN 2348-3148 (online) Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp: (104-109), Month: October - December 2022, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Vitamin D Deficiency: A Global Problem with Health Implications Majed Abdullah Alqahtani1*, Lamya Fahad Abdulwahed2, Mohammed Ibrahim Dayili3, Sultan Fahad Alqahtani4, Ibrahim Hussain Qaisi5, Nahedh Rashed Alotaibi6, Hassan Ghanam Alqahtani7, Dr.Ayeman Abdullah Mahzari8, Wardah Naiher Alanazi9, Aminah Fazaa Alanazi10 1* 2
Corrective Author Lab Specialist, Iman Hospital, Riyadh, KSA
Laboratory Specialist, Al-Iman General Hospital, Riyadh, KSA 3
Laboratory specialist, Al iman hospital, Riyadh, KSA 4
5
Specialist Otolaryngologist, AL-Iman General Hospital, Riyadh, KSA 6 7
8
Lab senior, Aliman General Hospital Riyadh, KSA Pharmacist, Aliman general hospital, Riyadh, KSA
Lab Technician, Al IMAN GENERAL HOSPITAL, Riyadh, KSA
Body imaging and non-vascular intervention consultant, Head of Radiology Dept. Al IMAN GENERAL HOSPITAL, Riyadh, KSA 9
General Dentistry, Riyadh specialized dental center CLUSTER 2 MOH, Riyadh, KSA 10
General Dentistry, CLUSTER 1 MOH, Riyadh, KSA DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7492207
Published Date: 29-December-2022
Abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a pandemic. The major cause of vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure in moderation is the major source of vitamin D for most humans. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and foods that are fortified with vitamin D are often inadequate to satisfy either a child’s or an adult’s vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets in children and will precipitate and exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, and infectious diseases. A circulating level of 25hydroxyvitamin D of >75 nmol/L, or 30 ng/mL, is required to maximize vitamin D’s beneficial effects for health. In the absence of adequate sun exposure, at least 800 –1000 IU vitamin D3/d may be needed to achieve this in children and adults. Vitamin D2 may be equally effective for maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D when given in physiologic concentrations. Keywords: Vitamin D deficiency, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, physiologic concentrations.
1. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Some of the earliest phytoplankton life forms on earth that have existed unchanged in the Atlantic Ocean for >750 y can make vitamin D when exposed to sunlight (1, 2). One hundred years would pass before it was observed that exposure to ultraviolet B radiation (UVB; 290 –315 nm) from a mercury arc lamp or sunlight prevented and treated rickets (4). In the early 1930s, the US government set up an agency to provide recommendations to parents about the beneficial effect of sensible exposure to sunlight for the prevention of rickets (4-6). The fortification of milk in the 1930s with 100 IU vitamin
Page | 104 Research Publish Journals