What happens when vitamin D is insufficient?

Severe lack of vitamin D causes rickets, which shows up in children as incorrect growth patterns, weakness in muscles, pain in bones and deformities in joints. This is very rare. However, children who are deficient in vitamin D can also have muscle weakness or sore and painful muscles.

What is a vitamin D deficiency in adults often associated with?

In adults, severe vitamin D deficiency leads to osteomalacia. Osteomalacia causes weak bones, bone pain, and muscle weakness.

Why are older adults at risk for vitamin D deficiency?

Older adults are at risk for lower levels of vitamin D as a result of decreased cutaneous synthesis and dietary intake of vitamin D.

Why is my vitamin D low even with supplements?

What causes a vitamin D deficiency? A deficiency in vitamin D can result from inadequate exposure to sunlight, inefficient production in the skin, not enough vitamin D in your diet, and health conditions that can affect it including, gastrointestinal disorders, renal diseases, and liver diseases.

What is a normal vitamin D level for a woman?

A level of 20 nanograms/milliliter to 50 ng/mL is considered adequate for healthy people. A level less than 12 ng/mL indicates vitamin D deficiency.

Can you take 2000 IU of vitamin D daily?

Nearly all vitamin D overdoses come from supplements. The Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board’s old 1997 recommendations suggested that 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D is safe for adults and that 1,000 IU per day is safe for infants up to 12 months of age.

What are the signs of low vitamin D?

Many people with vitamin D deficiency do not experience symptoms until their vitamin D levels get very low. Some of the signs or symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include: Back or joint pain. Muscle weakness. Being very tired. Changes in mood.

Why do I have low vitamin D?

Vitamin D deficiency can be caused by low exposure to sunlight, low consumption of dietary vitamin D over a period of time, problems with kidney or digestive tract function and obesity.

What are the symptoms of low vitamin D?

One of the most common symptoms of low vitamin D in women is bone pain. For many women, the pain reverberates throughout the entire skeletal system, but sometimes it can be concentrated in the legs or pelvic region. Other common symptoms are muscle weakness and fatigue, especially in the arms and legs, along with a decrease in muscle tone.

What causes low vitamin D levels?

Dietary Causes. Many causes of vitamin D deficiency can be attributed to your dietary and lifestyle choices. Vegetarianism, veganism, obesity, gastric bypass surgery and for children, breast-feeding without supplementation, can all be root causes of low vitamin D. Including fortified dairy products, certain fatty fish,…