Exposure to the sun is important to avoid Vitamin D deficiency. SummaryCases of vitamin D deficiency are on the rise across all classes in India. Related ArticlesSun Pharma heads towards lowest close in a monthSun Pharma falls 6 pct on surprise inspection reportsBSE Sensex closes under 27,000-mark on US Fed worries; sell-off hits Sun Pharma, ONGC, Coal IndiaScientists: Strong solar storm heading to Earth
On a hot summer afternoon this year, Delhi-based Shanta Gosain came home early from office to find her house in a mess, her full-time domestic help Aparna sleeping in a corner and her three-year-old son glued to the TV, unattended.
Aparna complained of drowsiness, fatigue and persisting body ache. That same evening, Gosain took her to a doctor, who said the 21-year-old was suffering from Vitamin D deficiency. The blood reports confirmed it.
Cases of vitamin D deficiency are on the rise across all classes in India. According to a research paper authored by Ritu G and Ajay Gupta, and published by MDPI, titled �Vitamin D Deficiency in India: Prevalence, Causalities and Interventions� in February 2014, �Vitamin D deficiency prevails in epidemic proportions all over the Indian subcontinent, with a prevalence of 70-100 per cent in the general population.� Another study by SRL Diagnostics, cited by various newspapers in March, found 84% of the Indian population having vitamin D deficiency.
The range of vitamin D levels in blood should be between 30 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml to be labelled as sufficient. Readings of 0 to 20 are deficient and 20 to 30 are insufficient. Above 100 is toxic.
�Vitamin D deficiency may be silent. Common symptoms are vague body pains, fatigue, general lethargy, joint pains etc. Bones and muscles are often found tender in such patients,� says Dr J P Manocha, senior consultant and head, orthopaedics, Sitaram Bhartia Hospital.
The deficiency can have devastating effects on our body. It can cause frequent infections, can aggravate certain conditions like diabetes, tuberculosis and depression, and can even cause certain types of cancer, besides causing rickets among children. Our sedentary life is a primary reason why we lose out on the sunshine vitamin, say doctors. �Our skin needs to be exposed to the sun for 30-45 minutes every day,� doctors say.
That we are a dark-skinned race is also one of the reasons that India has such a high percentage of the population suffering from this deficiency. The high level of pigmentation in our skins doesn�t allow optimum vitamin absorption even when we are exposed to the sun. Also, women are more prone, owing to frequent hormonal changes that they undergo.
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