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Medical Video: Vitamin D: The Miracle Supplement Video - Brigham and Women's Hospital
Did you know that there are many benefits of vitamin D for women's health? Lately research shows that in addition to bone health, vitamin D also plays a role in preventing autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart disease and infections. Unfortunately, in this modern era most activities are carried out indoors, so we are rarely exposed to sunlight which is a source of vitamin D. This is of course very unfortunate given the enormous benefits of vitamin D for our bodies.
Benefits of vitamin D for bones and muscles
Our body needs vitamin D for calcium absorption. Calcium is the main nutrient constituent of bones, making bones strong and reducing the risk of fractures. Without sufficient vitamin D, a person cannot form calcitriol hormone which is sufficient to absorb calcium from food.
In this situation, the body will take calcium from the bones and cause the bones to become weak and result in bone diseases such as osteoporosis and rickets. Research has shown that the effects of vitamin D and calcium together will reduce the incidence of fractures.
The importance of vitamin D for pregnant women
Vitamin D deficiency often occurs in young women, including women who are pregnant and elderly. During pregnancy, a woman is at risk of losing calcium due to the needs of the fetus in the womb, and because of increased expenditure of calcium via urine. This continues to increase with increasing gestational age.
If pregnant women lack vitamin D, it will certainly have an impact on the health of the fetal bone in the womb. The risk of rickets also increases. Pregnant women must have enough vitamin D at the time of delivery to ensure their babies have adequate levels of vitamin D for the first 4-6 months of life, because vitamin D status in infants is entirely dependent on mothers as a source of vitamin D in developing fetuses.
In addition, studies show a possible link between low vitamin D in pregnant women and increased risk of pregnancy such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, gestational diabetes, and bacterial vaginosis infection.
Various diseases that can be prevented by vitamin D
Vitamin D greatly contributes to women's health, but the effects of vitamin D deficiency are not widely known. Lately there have been many studies that link vitamin D and its role in various diseases, not only for bones and muscles.
Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis which are more common in women, are known to be associated with low serum vitamin D levels. In addition to multiple sclerosis, vitamin D also acts as an immunosuppressant in rheumatoid arthritis.
Vitamin D is also beneficial so that the immune system in the human body functions normally to fight certain types of diseases. Another benefit of vitamin D is reducing the risk of cancer because it has an anticarcinogenic effect. The relationship between adequate vitamin D status and lower cancer risk has been found by many studies.
In addition, many studies have reported an association between vitamin D deficiency and increased risk of heart disease such as hypertension, heart failure and ischemic heart disease.
Where can we get vitamin D from?
Vitamin D comes from three main sources, namely sunlight, food, and supplements.
As much as 80% of vitamin D sources are obtained from sun exposure. On the skin, sunlight will produce vitamin D which is then metabolized in the body to get an active form of vitamin D. Given the huge role of sunlight in the synthesis of vitamin D, of course outdoor activities to get enough sun exposure are very important.
In addition to sunlight, we get 20% of vitamin D through food. Food sources rich in vitamin D are salmon, tuna, sardines, eggs, milk and yogurt. If you can't get enough vitamin D from food and don't get much sun, vitamin D supplements can help.
Who is at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
Several factors can cause a person to have lower vitamin D levels, namely body weight, skin pigmentation, gender and age.
- Obesity is one of the risk factors because vitamin D is stored in fat tissue. In people who are overweight or obese, the storage capacity is also enlarged to prevent circulation of vitamin D to the bloodstream.
- Dark skinned person has a natural sunscreen called melanin which makes the skin not synthesize vitamin D. As a result, people with darker skin pigmentation tend to have lower vitamin D levels.
- Woman more at risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to men, because women tend to have more body fat than men, women spend more time indoors, and tend to use more often sunscreen than men.
- Age also affects the lack of vitamin D because as we get older, the skin produces less vitamin D, the ability to absorb vitamin D decreases and the activity out of the house decreases.
