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How Do I Recognize Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms?

Renee Booker
Renee Booker

The human body depends on a cocktail of vitamins and minerals in order to remain healthy. Vitamin D, commonly referred to a the "sunshine" vitamin, is among the essential vitamins needed to maintain a healthy body. When vitamin D is lacking in the human body, a number of deficiency symptoms may present themselves, such as bone or muscle pain or spinal deformities, asthma, and dental deformities in children, as well as cognitive impairment in older people. Cancer and cardiac disease have both been linked to vitamin D deficiency symptoms as well.

All vitamins play a role in the human body. Vitamin D has long been referred to as the "sunshine" vitamin because it is produced in the human body as a direct response to exposure to the sun's rays. Vitamin D is also found naturally in liver, oily fish, and eggs. In the United States, milk is often fortified with vitamin D as well.

Vitamin D supplements.
Vitamin D supplements.

When a body suffers from vitamin D deficiency symptoms, it can be devastating to the body. Children who do not get enough vitamin D during their early years can suffer from poor bone formation, including the disease rickets, which leads to softened and weakened bones. In addition, a child who suffers from vitamin D deficiency symptoms may also present with dental deformities or with extremely late dental growth.

Vitamin D deficiencies can be caused by limited sun exposure.
Vitamin D deficiencies can be caused by limited sun exposure.

Adults who suffer from a deficiency of vitamin D are at risk for losing cognitive abilities, as well as a variety of other medical complications. Cancer and cardiac disease are some of the more serious medical conditions that can result from a vitamin D deficiency in adults. In addition, a vitamin D deficiency may increase the likelihood of suffering from hypertension or type one or two diabetes.

For anyone who feels he or she suffers from vitamin D deficiency symptoms, there are a number of lifestyle changes that may help. Diet, of course, plays an important role in providing the body with the essential vitamins needed to function properly. If an individual's diet does not contain foods which naturally contain vitamin D, then a supplement may be necessary.

Sunlight plays a major role in producing vitamin D within the human body. For anyone who spends a considerable amount of time indoors or who lives in a northern latitude, exposure to sunlight may be limited. Making an effort to spend more time outdoors can be a simple solution to a lack of vitamin D.

Discussion Comments

cloudel

@seag47 – I love being in the sun, and winter is my least favorite season. However, I live in a region that gets covered in snow for months, and the sun disappears behind what seems like a permanent cloud cover. I wish I had the option of going out and sunning even my face.

During the winter, I have to adjust my diet to include more vitamin D. I don't really love tuna, but I endure eating it once every couple of weeks during cold weather. It's not as bad when I mix some teriyaki sauce in with canned tuna.

Also, I'm not crazy about milk, but since it has vitamin D in it, I know I need it. I don't drink it straight, but I do add a cup of it to strawberry banana smoothies that I make with my blender.

I haven't had any health problems during the winter, so I guess my diet has enough vitamin D in it. I look forward to summer very much, though, because being in the sun is so much more enjoyable than eating tuna!

shell4life

I did not know that dogs could suffer from a vitamin D deficiency until I found a starving puppy in the road. I picked him up and took him to the vet the next day.

The joints in his leg were bent at an odd angle, and his feet seemed to be pointing the wrong way. Some of his toes appeared crooked, too.

The vet guessed that he was only 9 weeks old, and she gave me a 30-day supply of supplements that contained calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. She said that giving him one of these a day should correct the problem.

Now, he is seven months old, and his feet and toes point in the right direction. His knees are still a bit knobby, but this is just a consequence of him not getting enough nutrition before I got him. The vitamin D supplement greatly improved the growth of his joints.

seag47

Seasonal affective disorder can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency. Many people get really depressed on winter days when the sun sets super early and it's too cold to enjoy the rays.

I always assumed I was just sad because I hated leaving work when it was already dark and not getting to spend anytime outside. I didn't know that my body was actually trying to tell me that it needed the sun for vitamin D until my mother told me that her doctor pointed out the link.

She, too, gets depressed during the winter. Once she learned that a vitamin deficiency was to blame, she decided to brave the cold for a few minutes every day. Even though she covered all but her face and hands, her exposed skin did absorb some rays, and this improved her mood a lot.

orangey03

A doctor recognized the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency in my mother. She had been hospitalized with extremely high blood pressure, and no one had been able to figure out what was causing it.

After a variety of tests failed to show the cause, one doctor did a little bit of prying into her lifestyle. He found out that she only stepped outside to grab the mail, and she hated the taste of fish. The doctor shouted, “Aha! You aren't getting enough vitamin D.”

He ordered her to spend fifteen minutes outdoors on every sunny day. Since we live in the deep South, the temperatures aren't that cold in winter, so she was able to do this. Her blood pressure got back down to normal after a couple of weeks of sun exposure, and it has remained normal ever since!

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    • Vitamin D supplements.
      By: Mara Zemgaliete
      Vitamin D supplements.
    • Vitamin D deficiencies can be caused by limited sun exposure.
      By: Dirima
      Vitamin D deficiencies can be caused by limited sun exposure.