Vitamin D is necessary to human health. Most vitamin D comes from natural sunlight, but itcan be obtained through supplements and fortified foods including milk, yogurt, and margarine. Vitamin D deficiencies are usually the result of inadequate nutrition, impaired absorption or increased excretion. Deficiency can cause many different symptoms.
Rickets
A classic vitamin D deficiency disease is rickets. Rickets tends to be found in children with a vitamin D deficiency and is characterized by a failure of the bone tissue to mineralize correctly. Rickets results in a softening of the bones and skeletal deformities. In young infants rickets can cause the entire skull to soften. In extreme cases, deformities can develop in children that include bowlegs and knock-knees. Deficiency in a pregnant woman can lead to deficiency in a fetus. Rickets is a rare disease in the United States but is occasionally still reported.
Osteomalacia
Osteomalacia is also a result of vitamin D deficiency in adults. Bone pain and muscle weakness are signs of osteomalacia in adults. Osteomalacia makes a patient predisposed to bone fractures. The elderly are especially vulnerable to hip fractures that result from only a small trauma.
Tetany
Tetany can be seen in both infantile and adult vitamin D deficiency. Tetany may cause a tingling in a patient's lips, tongue, and fingers. Facial and wrist or hand spasms and in extreme cases, seizures. Tetany can also be seen in a fetus when the mother has a vitamin D deficiency.
Treatment
The best treatment for vitamin D deficiency is to increase the amount of vitamin D in a patient's diet and increase the amount of time spent outdoors. A vitamin D supplement is most useful when taken with calcium because calcium helps with the absorption of vitamin D. Whole milk, yogurt, margarine, ready-to-eat cereals and some brands of orange juice are all fortified with vitamin D. There are few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. The flesh of some fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel and fish liver oils are the best source of naturally occurring vitamin D in foods.
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