Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that can be found in some foods, such as saltwater fish as well as cereals and dairy products which have been fortified with this vitamin. Your body also makes vitamin D in response to sunlight. If children get too much vitamin D, it can be toxic.
Vitamin D Physiology
One of the main roles of vitamin D in the body is to allow the digestive tract to absorb calcium. For your intestines to absorb calcium from your diet, special proteins, known as transport proteins, must be used to get the calcium across the intestinal lining. Vitamin D stimulates these transporter proteins. Vitamin D also interacts with some of the cells involved in breaking down and remaking bone tissue.
Vitamin D Overdose
If children get too much vitamin D, they can develop symptoms of a vitamin D overdose. The main symptoms of a vitamin D overdose are due to elevated levels of calcium in the blood. Too much calcium in the blood can cause nausea, vomiting, constipation and a loss of appetite. The elevated calcium levels can also affect muscle and brain function, causing weakness and confusions. Vitamin D overdoses can also cause an irregular heartbeat and kidney stones.
Cause and Treatment
The body carefully regulates the production of vitamin D by the skin and it is difficult to ingest too much vitamin D from food. As a result, most cases of a vitamin D overdose are due to excessive intake of vitamin D supplements. In children, this can occur by giving the child too many multivitamins. Doses of 1,000 mcg per day in infants and 1,250 per day in children and adults, which is equivalent to 40,000 and 50,000 International Units, respectively, can cause overdose symptoms.
Considerations
According to the Vitamin D Council, some people who develop signs of a vitamin D overdose are actually suffering from vitamin D hypersensitivity. If you have an overly active parathyroid gland, you will have a tendency towards elevated calcium levels, which can cause you to develop hypercalcemia even with safe doses of vitamin D. Other disorders, including granulomatous disease, can cause your body to produce too much active vitamin D, which can also cause you to be unusually sensitive to vitamin D supplements.
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