Vitamins, including vitamin D, are important for maintaining the health of many tissues in your body. If you do not get enough vitamin D, the strength of your bones can be affected, leading to easy fracturing. Symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency can also be affected by the amount of calcium in your blood.
Vitamin D Function
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin contained in fatty fish, egg yolks, cheese and beef liver. Because so few foods naturally contain this vitamin, it is also added to many foods, including dairy products and cereal to help prevent deficiencies. Your body is also able to make vitamin D when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet light. Vitamin D is needed to maintain the strength of your bones and also helps your intestines absorb calcium.
Vitamin D Deficiency
One way of diagnosing a vitamin D deficiency is to do a blood test that measures your levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D, one of the forms that vitamin D takes in your body. Normally your blood will have between 30 and 74 ng of this form of vitamin D per mL of blood. Levels below this suggest a vitamin D deficiency. Levels between 12 and 20 ng per mL may not cause any acute symptoms but are considered to be too low for proper bone growth, and levels below 12 ng per mL can cause bone disorders such as osteomalacia and rickets.
Recommended Intake
The amount of vitamin D you need each day depends on your age. Infants under 12 months need about 10 mcg of vitamin D each day. If you are between the ages of 1 and 70, you need to consume 15 mcg of vitamin D each day. People 71 and older need 20 mcg of vitamin D each day. If you have lighter skin or get extensive exposure to sunlight, you may not need as much vitamin D.
Calcium
The effects of a vitamin D deficiency often manifest as low blood calcium levels. Normally, you should have between 8.5 and 10.2 mg of calcium per dL of blood. If your blood calcium levels are below this, you may have a vitamin D deficiency and can develop weak bones. If your vitamin D levels are low but you have normal calcium levels, you may not develop any signs of a vitamin D deficiency.
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