Vitamin D And Autoimmunity

October 4, 2019 by Dr Kar

(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.