Psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency

What are the psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency?, as vitamin D is one of the vitamins that dissolve in fats and is not made by the body except when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays of the sun, in addition to that, vitamin D can be obtained by taking nutritional supplements and eating limited types of foods Like tuna and salmon, it is one of the most important vitamins for maintaining bone density, hardness, development and regeneration, as it stimulates the absorption of calcium in the intestines and controls the levels of calcium and phosphorus in the bones. The immune system and the control of the genes needed to manufacture proteins responsible for regulating cell proliferation and differentiation into specialized cells

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the important vitamins for the body, and it is mainly important for health and building bones. Vitamin D is synthesized in the body in skin cells after exposure to sunlight, which helps to convert the chemical substance into vitamin D effectively. The amount of vitamin D that the body produces depends on several factors. Factors including the time of day, year, and human color, as lifestyle and location can reduce the production of vitamin D in the body, and the use of sunscreen, despite its importance, can reduce the production of vitamin D, and when vitamin D deficiency occurs in the body, the body is affected and affected. Bone health, as well as other symptoms, some physical and some psychological[1]

Psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency

What are the psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, as vitamin D is one of the vitamins that plays an important and essential role in brain development, brain functions, and the nervous system, as it was found that vitamin D deficiency is common in people with depression and anxiety disorders, which are psychological symptoms of vitamin D, and it has shown There are many studies on the relationship between low levels of vitamin D in the body, depression, and depressive symptoms, because a study was conducted on nearly 6,000 people over the age of 50, and the study showed that people with vitamin D deficiency suffer from symptoms of depression, a permanent feeling of sadness, loneliness, and the inability to move forward. Depression is one of the symptoms that result from vitamin D deficiency, in addition to health symptoms such as bone pain, fatigue, fatigue, drowsiness, weakness, and muscle and joint pain. Other psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include:[4][3]

• Feeling sad, hopeless and helpless.
• Persistent thoughts of death or suicide.
• Insomnia or excessive sleep.
• Weight loss or weight gain.
• Anxiety and stress.
• Loss of ability to enjoy activities they used to enjoy.
• Headache or back pain.

Causes of vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency is characterized by many symptoms that may be vague and distinct in the early stages, fatigue and psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency such as sadness are common symptoms, but back pain and muscle weakness are more evidence of vitamin D deficiency, and there are several reasons and factors that lead to deficiency Vitamin D are as follows:[13]

• Dark skin: Melanin reduces the skin’s ability to produce vitamin D when exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, forcing dark-skinned people to get more exposure to direct sunlight or take vitamin D supplements.
• Kidney disease: Vitamin D turns into the active form of the kidneys. When kidney function is impaired, the body takes and metabolizes what it needs of vitamin D. As a result, it may lead to impaired kidney function as a result of not using it properly.
• Digestive system disorders: Many diseases and disorders of the digestive system can cause vitamin D deficiency, such as ulcers, Crohn’s disease, various infections, and malabsorption diseases that limit the body’s ability to absorb vitamin D from food.
• Lack of exposure to sunlight: People who live in areas far from the equator and where there is no sunlight throughout the year are at risk of vitamin D deficiency and cannot rely on sunlight to obtain it.
• Obesity: Obese people are prone to vitamin D deficiency as a result of the accumulation of vitamin D and being trapped in the fatty tissues instead of entering the bloodstream, which leads to a vitamin D deficiency.
• Lactation: Children who depend only on breast milk suffer from vitamin D deficiency, and this is due to the fact that breast milk contains a low percentage of vitamin D, and therefore children who depend on breastfeeding need vitamin D supplements only.
• Breastfeeding and pregnant women: Pregnant and breast-feeding women are vulnerable to vitamin D deficiency, and some research indicates that vitamin D deficiency can lead to premature labor and pre-eclampsia.
• Certain Foods: Eating certain food groups for medical reasons or as a result of people’s desire to eat certain foods and foods as a result of personal choice leads to nutritional deficiencies, including vitamin D.
• Lactose intolerance: This leads to the inability to eat milk and dairy products, which are the main source of calcium and vitamin D, but people with lactose intolerance can eat lactose-free foods fortified with vitamin D and calcium.
• Vegetarian diet: A vegan diet does not contain sources of vitamin D, so vitamin D deficiency is common among vegans.

How is vitamin D deficiency treated?

Vitamin D plays a vital role in an important group of different body functions, where a person gets enough of this vitamin when the body produces it after exposure to sunlight, and he can also get it by eating certain foods that contain it in reasonable quantities and the person suffers from a deficiency in this vitamin For a number of reasons, resulting in a range of complications and symptoms that particularly affect bone and muscle health.

sun exposure

Sunlight is an important element in increasing the amount of vitamin D in the body, because the process of its production requires exposure to the skin of the sun, and here a person must be careful before exposing his body to sunlight in the long term, as exposure to sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer, so a person is advised to spend A short time in the air under the sun, exposing his forearms, legs, or hands to sunlight, and the amount of vitamin D that a person gets varies according to several factors, which are as follows:[5]

• Exposure time: The human body produces more vitamin D if exposed to sunlight in the middle of the day. That is, at the time when the sun reaches its highest height in the sky, and in such cases, a person must use sunscreen in anticipation of skin burns and to maintain the moisture of his body.
• Skin exposed to the sun: The amount of vitamin D that the body produces increases with the exposure of the skin to sunlight. For example, direct sun exposure on the back leads to more vitamin D production than the face and hands.
• Skin color: The body produces more vitamin D when the skin color is pale, and the amount decreases when the skin color becomes darker.

Nutritional supplements

The doctor recommends taking a vitamin D supplement if the person suffers from a severe deficiency. These supplements are sold in pharmacies in two forms: vitamin D2 ergocalciferol supplements, and vitamin D3 cholecalciferol supplements. It is known that vitamin D2 is derived from plant sources and is found in some fortified foods and supplements. Where vitamin D3 is found naturally in the human body, and in general, taking vitamin D3 supplements is better than vitamin D2 supplements. Because it increases the concentration of vitamin D in the blood for a longer period, and because the body produces it naturally and is found in most foods, and in general these Supplements are safe for most people, but you should never take them without consulting your doctor. doctor. First, because overdosing is dangerous and harmful; Adults, children, and pregnant women who take more than 4,000 IU per day experience some possible side effects, such as:[6][7]

• Nausea and vomiting.
• Poor appetite and weight loss.
• Weakness, weakness and fatigue.
• constipation.
• Suffering from confusion.
• Suffering from an irregular heartbeat.
• Suffering from kidney stones.

In general, the recommended daily intake of vitamin D supplements is 400 IU for children under one year of age, 600 IU for people between the ages of 1 and 70, and 800 IU for people over 70 years of age. It is worth noting that they are sold in several forms, as follows:[8][7]

• Injections: Vitamin D supplements are given in the form of injections that a person takes for about 6 months. They are useful and effective remedies for people who do not want to take oral nutritional supplements regularly.
• High-dose supplements: These supplements come in the form of tablets or liquid in high doses and are taken daily, weekly, or monthly. In addition, they are characterized by their rapid action, which quickly eliminates vitamin D deficiency, but this requires that the person adhere to the correct diet.
• Standard Dose Supplements: These supplements are given to people in the form of powder or tablets and must be taken daily for 12 months to compensate for the lack of vitamin D in the body, so it is a suitable method for people with mild cases of deficiency.

Foods Some foods contain adequate amounts of vitamin D, for example:[5]

• Fatty fish such as mackerel and salmon.
• beef liver.
• the cheese.
• mushrooms.
• yolk.
• Fortified foods, such as certain types of breakfast cereals, orange juice, milk, and soy drinks.

What is the treatment for vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and children?

Vitamin D deficiency is common in children and pregnant women for many reasons, and they are exposed to many risks as a result, so they must undergo treatments known to increase the levels of this vitamin in their bodies, namely:[11][10]

for pregnant

The daily dose taken by a pregnant woman who suffers from a deficiency in vitamin D varies according to the level of deficiency, and this is explained as follows:

• If vitamin D levels vary between 30 and 49 nmol/L, a pregnant woman should take 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day, in addition to the daily dose of calcium.
• If your vitamin D level falls below 30 nmol/L, a pregnant woman should take 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day along with a daily dose of calcium.
• If 6 weeks have passed since treatment; Women should take a dose of 1000 IU.

For children

Vitamin D deficiency in children can be treated with vitamin D2 or D3 supplementation as per the University of Nottingham initial treatment protocol, which is usually continued for 6 to 8 weeks followed by vitamin D supplementation of 400 IU depending on their age group noting that children should not receive any Dietary supplement without consulting a doctor first:

• The initial treatment for a child with vitamin D deficiency who is less than 1 month old is 1,500 units.
• The initial treatment for a child with a vitamin D deficiency who is between the ages of 1 and 6 months and 1 year is 3,000 IU.
• The initial treatment for a child with a vitamin D deficiency between the ages of 6 months and 12 years is 6,000 units.
• The initial treatment for a child with vitamin D deficiency over 12 years of age is 10,000 units.

Diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency

The level of vitamin D in the body is checked through a blood test, which is called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. It is diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency in the body when the blood test is called: 25-hydroxyvitamin D-, which measures vitamin D levels in human blood:[12]

The importance of vitamin D

In the body, the vitamin has many functions, including:[10]

• Maintaining strong bones: the presence of healthy bones protects against various diseases, including rickets, which is a disease that occurs due to weakness and osteoporosis in children and results from a lack of vitamin D in the body because it needs vitamin D to increase the absorption of calcium and phosphorus to build bones, but a lack of vitamin D D in adults causes osteoporosis.
• Calcium absorption: Vitamin D helps improve calcium absorption and is important for building bones and maintaining strong, healthy bones. Weak bones can lead to osteoporosis and loss of density, which can lead to fractures.
• Working with the parathyroid glands: The parathyroid glands regulate the level of calcium in the blood, and regulate the functioning of the kidneys, intestines, and skeleton. If the amount of calcium is insufficient or vitamin D is low, the parathyroid glands remove calcium from the skeleton in order to maintain calcium levels in the body. The blood is within the normal range.

Getting enough vitamin D can play a role in maintaining health by protecting against and possibly helping to treat the following conditions, which may include:

• Depression, studies have shown that vitamin D plays an important role in improving mood and reducing depression, as scientists have noticed an improvement in symptoms of depression in people who suffer from it and take vitamin D supplements.
• Promote weight loss: Research has shown that people who take vitamin D and calcium supplements daily can lose more weight because calcium and vitamin D supplements play an important role in suppressing appetite.
• Heart disease and high blood pressure.
• diabetic.
• Infections and disorders of the immune system.
• Some types of cancer, such as colon, prostate and breast cancer.
• Multiple sclerosis.

Common questions about Vitamin D

Some frequently asked questions about vitamin D include:[12][9]

When does vitamin D increase after treatment?

The time it takes for vitamin D levels to rise in the body depends on the type of supplement, some work quickly, while others take a long time to take effect.

What is the best juice for vitamin D deficiency?

Anyone can take a drink fortified with orange juice because it contains beneficial vitamin D supplements.

Can vitamin D deficiency be treated with herbs?

There are no scientifically proven herbal remedies for vitamin D deficiency.

In conclusion, this article answered the question posed, what are the psychological symptoms of vitamin D deficiency? The importance of vitamin D, and the reasons that lead to its deficiency in the body, were also discussed.