Vitamin D-ficieny
Overview
Causes & Symptoms
Treatment
Vitamin-D-Ficiency Kit
Activities
Resources
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Welcome to Vitamin D-ficiency!
Our purpose is to address the issue of vitamin D deficieny by informing users about the importance of vitamin D, its deficiency symptoms, methods of treatement, resources, and guidance with our Vitamin-D-ficiency Kit!
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that your body uses for normal bone development and maintenance. Vitamin D also plays a role in your nervous system, musculoskeletal system and immune system.
Why is Vitamin D important?
Vitamin D is one of many vitamins your body needs to stay healthy. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of calcium in your blood and bones and in building and maintaining bones. More specifically, you need vitamin D so your body can use calcium and phosphorus to build bones and support healthy tissues.
Vitamin D Deficieny
Causes
- Not getting enough vitamin D in your diet and/or through sunlight.
- Your body isn’t properly absorbing or using vitamin D.
- Medical conditions & medication side effects.
Common Affects
- Anyone can have vitamin D deficiency, including infants, children and adults.
- Vitamin D deficiency may be more common in people with higher skin melanin content and who wear clothing with extensive skin coverage, .
- Vitamin D deficiency is a common global issue: About 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency, while 50% of the population has vitamin D insufficiency.
- Approximately 35% of adults in the United States have vitamin D deficiency.
Symptoms
- Incorrect growth patterns due to bowed or bent bones.
- Fatigue.
- Muscle weakness, aches, or cramps.
- Bone pain.
- Demforimities in joints.
- Mood changes, like depression.
Long-term Risks
- May lead to a decline in calcium and phosphorus absorption by your intestines leads to hypocalcemia or low calcium levels in your blood.
- May lead to secondary hyperparathyroidism or overactive parathyroid glands attempting to keep blood calcium levels normal.
- May lead to osteomalacia or osteoporosis which makes soft bones and puts you at an increased risk for bone fractures.
Management and Treatment
Vitamin D Supplements:
- Work with your healthcare provider to find out if you need a vitamin supplement and how much to take, if needed.
- You can often obtain vitamin D3 supplements over-the-counter, but for severe deficiencies, a doctor may prescribe higher doses of vitamin D2.
Dietary Changes:
- Vitamin D-Rich Foods: Incorporate foods like fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines), egg yolks, fortified milk, and breakfast cereals into your diet.
- Fortified Foods: Pay attention to fortified foods like milk, orange juice, and cereals, as they often contain added vitamin D.
Sunlight Exposure:
- Natural Source: Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D, as your skin produces vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.
- Safe Exposure: It's important to practice sun safety by using sunscreen and limiting exposure, especially during peak sun hours.
Vitamin-D-Ficiency Kit
Pill/Supplement Dispensor:
- Our pill/supplement dispensor aids in helping you keep track of what time your pills (in this case vitamin D supplements) should dispense on a daily basis.
- Through our interactive keypad and LCD Display, you can set and see the time for when you want your pills to be delivered.
- Additionally, with a stepper motor and divided sections to hold the pills there is full rotation capacity so your capsule of pills for each day can be dispensed.
Suntime Tracker:
- The Suntime Tracker, assists in tracking the amount of time you are in sunlight for optimal vitamin D levels.
- The LCD display provides a real-time of feedback (in minutes or seconds) of how much time you have been recieving sunlight.
- After 30 minutes (the optimal conditions of sunlight to receive), it will notify the user through the LCD display and active buzzer sound that enough sunlight has been recieved.
Activities
Which Foods Are High in Vitamin D?
Pizza
Salmon
Eggs
Chocolate
Mushrooms
Fortified Milk
Ice Cream
Fortified Cereal
Resources
Articles
Reminders
- Note that because ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer, it is important to avoid excessive sun exposure, wear sunscreen, and in general, tanning beds should not be used.
- Always tell your healthcare provider about your medications and any supplements and/or herbs you take.
- Your provider can order a blood test to measure your levels of vitamin D. The most common is the 25-hydroxyvitamin D, known as 25(OH)D for short.
- The goals of treatment and prevention for vitamin D deficiency are the same: to reach and then maintain an adequate vitamin D level in your body. Work with your healthcare provider to find out if you need a vitamin supplement and how much to take, if needed.