The Importance of Vitamin D for Bone Health
You’ve probably heard how crucial Vitamin D is for bone health. But you might not know that its deficiency is the primary cause of most bone health issues since it can lead to rickets or flat feet in children and osteopenia that leads to osteoporosis in adults. In this article, we’ll go over how vitamin D helps to build and maintain your bones strong and healthy.
How does vitamin D affect bone health?
Vitamin D regulates the balance of calcium and phosphorus elements in the body, ensuring that bones meet their requirements from these two elements, as
summarized in the points below:
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Vitamin D facilitates the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from food.
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Reduces calcium excretion from the body via urine
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Promotes calcium and phosphorus deposition in bones.
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Controls the release of calcium and phosphorus from bones during regeneration.
In these ways, vitamin D maintains normal calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood, consequently maintaining bone healthy and strong.
Vitamin D deficiency and rickets disease.
Rickets disease is caused by severe vitamin D deficiency in children, which manifests in the following symptoms:
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Delayed growth.
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Delayed motor skills.
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Pain in the spine, pelvis, and legs.
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Muscle weakness.
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Arched legs or knee disintegration.
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Increased wrist and ankle thickness.
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The appearance of chest bones.
Although the prevalence of rickets disease recently decreased a lot after the addition of vitamin D to baby formula, the disease continues to appear among breastfeeding-dependent children, so it is necessary to give infants supplemental doses to ensure that they receive sufficient amounts of vitamin D to avoid this complication.
Osteoporosis and Vitamin D deficiency
Bones keep regenerating throughout an individual’s life, and a lack of vitamin D causes calcium and phosphorus deficiencies, which can reduce bone density and increase the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis.
In the advanced stages of osteoporosis, the following symptoms appear significantly:
1- Back pain.
2- Short stature with age.
3- Curvature of the body.
4- Easy to develop bone fractures.
These symptoms do not usually appear at the onset of osteoporosis, waiting until they do increases the likelihood of complications.
Other symptoms may occasionally appear in the case of vitamin d deficiency:
1- Changes in mood and depression.
2- Bone pain.
3- Fatigue.
4- Muscle weakness and spasms
Vitamin D deficiency symptoms are not always noticeable and may not appear at all, delaying diagnosis and increasing complications. As a result, we recommend avoiding this problem by:
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Taking vitamin D supplements.
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Enriching your diet with high vitamin D content.
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Getting exposed to the sun more often.
Biodal wishes you good health and overall wellness.
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