(This was posted earlier in June 2016. Updated Oct 2019)
In recent years vitamin D deficiency has become like an epidemic all over the world. .Many people are surprised when I talk about severe vitamin D deficiency in my patients from India. In fact studies (1) 1have shown that the incidence of vitamin D deficiency is 40-99% in India! We have become vitamin D deficient because we do not spend adequate time in the sun. But I am not sure how many of you will be outdoors in minimal clothes at temperatures of 40 degrees C and 90%+ of humidity! 🙂 If vitamin D deficiency is so common, should you be concerned about it?
Consequences Of Vitamin D Deficiency
Most of you are familiar with the action of vitamin D in protecting your bones and maintaining blood calcium levels—the “classical” actions of vitamin D.In fact,Sir Edward Mellanby (1884–1955) discovered Vitamin D and its potential role in preventing rickets about a hundred years ago. (Rickets is a softening and weakening of bones in children, causing severe deformities. This is a consequence of severe and prolonged vitamin D deficiency.) However, scientific studies in the last several years have shown that vitamin D has several other actions as well—the “non-classical” actions.
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