Uncle Zhang is 62 years old this year, and his age is somewhat advanced, but his physical fitness is no worse than that of people in their forties and fifties. Uncle Zhang was a soldier for several years when he was young, and he developed the habit of exercising every day, and now he has to go out for a five-kilometer run every morning and come back, and the neighbors nearby will praise him for his good health whenever they meet him, and they envy him.
Uncle Zhang hadn't been running for a week, because his legs had been sore for several days, and at first Uncle Zhang thought that the stretch and massage were not in place after running the day before, which may be muscle soreness. But after a few days, the symptoms did not ease, the physical discomfort was aggravated, the whole body was weak, I couldn't do anything, my lower back also hurt, Uncle Zhang didn't sleep well, didn't eat well, and the whole person was stunned.
Uncle Zhang's wife couldn't stand it, and frightened him: "Don't go to the hospital yet, be careful of what cancer you have." Uncle Zhang also planned to see the situation in a few days, but he was really frightened by his wife and immediately prepared to go to the hospital.
When he arrived at the hospital, the doctor asked about the medical history and specific symptoms, and after understanding, he prescribed relevant examinations, including bone densitometry, because the doctor suspected that Uncle Zhang had osteoporosis. CT examination showed that the bone trabecular was sparse, the cancellous foramen distance increased, and thinned, and the bone densitometry results showed a T-value of -2.6, indicating that Uncle Zhang's bone density has belonged to osteoporosis, and the doctor's guess is correct, Uncle Zhang is indeed suffering from osteoporosis.
"Doctor, osteoporosis is not serious, I heard that many elderly people will get it." Although Uncle Zhang said this, his face was still nervous.
The doctor smiled: "Sir, you still know something, don't worry too much, you came in time, there is no fracture yet." I'll prescribe you some vitamin D, take it back and eat it, usually pay more attention to calcium supplementation, there is no problem."
Uncle Zhang still had questions: "It's good to eat some vitamin D, don't you prescribe some other medicine?" ”
"Don't underestimate vitamin D, it can be very useful, not only calcium supplementation, but also prevent cancer and reduce infection rates." You can also supplement some vitamin D appropriately."
After listening to what the doctor said, Uncle Zhang seemed to have found a treasure, and after going back, he told the neighbors to supplement more vitamin D to cure serious diseases.
Is vitamin D really effective against infection rates and cancer? Most people's understanding of vitamin D is limited to the effect of calcium supplementation, but does it still have such a big effect? One can't help but be a little suspicious. Today's article will delve into the relevant knowledge about vitamin D, whether supplementing with moderate amounts of vitamin D can effectively fight infection rates and cancer. What else is good for the body with vitamin D supplementation, and what are the consequences if it is deficient?
One: What is Vitamin D?
Vitamins are one of the important nutrients needed by the body, and vitamins are required for metabolism, promoting physical development and growth, enhancing resistance, regulating physiological functions and other activities. Vitamins are divided into many types, and different vitamins play very different roles for the body, but they are all indispensable, and vitamin D is one of them.
There are many roles and benefits of vitamin D. Vitamin D can promote bone development, most people know that vitamin D has this effect, because it can enhance the absorption of calcium in the body, bone density, bone hardness and other aspects have a strengthening effect, so as to promote bone growth and development, so children take vitamin D to promote bone growth, height growth role; Elderly people who take vitamin D can prevent osteoporosis, fractures and other conditions, and people like Uncle Zhang who have suffered from osteoporosis can also take vitamin D.
Vitamin D can improve immunity and enhance physical fitness
Vitamin D is not only found in bones, but also in every other part of the body. A variety of immune cells in the immune system have vitamin D receptors, such as lymphocytes, T cells, immune cells have vitamin D synthesis, which can stimulate immune cell activity, and the proliferation and differentiation of lymphocytes are also related to it, immune system regulation, immunity is enhanced.
Vitamin D maintains calcium and phosphorus balance in the body
Phosphorus is also a very important material component of the body, such as the composition of bones and teeth need the participation of phosphorus, phosphorus and calcium synthesis can promote hardness; Phosphorus and fat synthesize phospholipid compounds, which can promote the metabolism of cells and tissues. When the body is deficient in phosphorus, vitamin D will play a role, produce a large amount of calcitonin, reduce the absorption of calcium, promote the absorption of phosphorus, so that the phosphorus and calcium components in the body maintain a balance and avoid imbalance.
Vitamin D may protect against cancer
It is estimated that many people are skeptical that vitamin D can prevent cancer, but a research team has confirmed this, the German Cancer Research Center and Harvard Medical School in the United States have jointly done relevant research, the study object is 104727 participants after taking vitamin D3 in different doses, some people take continuously, some intermittent doses, some doses increase, etc.
But data analysis led to a 12% reduction in cancer mortality by taking vitamin D daily. They also found that vitamin D may be better prevented if taken before the cancer is diagnosed.
Vitamin D can also prevent dementia and diabetes. The University of Calgary in Canada did a study that showed that the group that took vitamin D had a 40% lower risk of dementia than the group that did not take it, which is related to a substance in the brain, brain amyloid deposition can lead to Alzheimer's disease, and the role of vitamin D is to understand this substance.
Regarding vitamin D can prevent diabetes, Tufts Medical Center in the United States has also done related research, studies have shown that if pre-diabetic patients consume high doses of vitamin D, the chance of becoming type 2 diabetes can be reduced by 15%, and vitamin D also has the effect of regulating blood sugar stability. This is because vitamin D receptors are also present in pancreatic islet cells, which can promote the secretion and synthesis of insulin and play a role in lowering blood sugar.
If we want to exert the effects above vitamin D, we need to take the right dose, and supplementation of 400-800IU per day is the most appropriate and safest. So what are the consequences of vitamin D deficiency and excess in the body, let's learn together.
Two: vitamin D deficiency and excess
When vitamin D deficiency occurs in the body, different ages of people manifest themselves with different diseases. Infants and young children lack vitamin D, rickets will occur, due to abnormal calcium and phosphorus metabolism, bone tissue calcification insufficiency and other factors caused by bone lesions, patients often manifested as cranial malacia, chicken breast, X, O legs, etc. In the early stage, there are no obvious changes, and sometimes symptoms such as sweating, irritability, and easy crying are shown.
Middle-aged and elderly people will suffer from osteoporosis because of vitamin D deficiency, just like the example of Uncle Zhang mentioned above. Patients present with back pain, which later extends to bone pain throughout the body, and some patients also develop spinal deformation. Osteoporosis is mainly caused by factors such as increased bone fragility and damage to bone tissue.
It is also because of the increased fragility of bones, which is particularly prone to fractures caused by falls. If special groups such as pregnant women and lactating women lack vitamin D, it may also cause osteomalacia, and it is easy to deform the spine, thoracic cage, pelvis and other parts.
As mentioned above, vitamin D has the effect of improving immunity, if it is lacking, it will inevitably lead to decreased immunity, reduced lymphocyte activity, and the body is easily infected by viruses and bacteria, inducing various diseases.
When vitamin D is replenished in excess in the body, a variety of side effects can occur. Patients with mild symptoms will have malaise, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other digestive symptoms, and the mouth can also smell metal. If the above symptoms have not stopped the intake of vitamin D, it is likely that there will be poisoning reactions, causing hypercalcemia, hyperphosphatemia and other diseases, systemic vascular calcification, soft tissue calcification, organ failure and other dangerous situations may occur.
We need to consciously supplement vitamin D, especially when the body has related symptoms, to prevent diseases when vitamin D deficiency occurs. When we supplement vitamin D, we should also pay attention to the dose of intake to avoid excessive intake and counterproductive. How to properly supplement vitamin D in daily life is also what we need to know.
Three: How to supplement vitamin D?
There are several ways to supplement with vitamin D.
1. Consume through food
Some foods are rich in vitamin D, such as milk, egg yolks, mackerel, tuna, vitamin D-fortified cereals, etc. Food access is a simple way to supplement vitamin D every day, which is suitable for people who do not experience symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
2. Bask in the sun
This method is also common in daily life and is the main way for the body to obtain vitamin D. Many newborn babies are pushed outside to bask in the sun, all to supplement vitamin D. According to studies, 15 minutes of sun exposure can increase vitamin D by 20,000 IU. But we should also be careful of sunburn and pay attention to the skin condition in the process of supplementing vitamin D with this method.
3. Intake of vitamin D preparations
This method is suitable for people who have already experienced deficiency symptoms, feel unwell, it is recommended to go to the hospital for examination and treatment as soon as possible, and take vitamin D preparations under the professional guidance of a doctor to avoid aggravating the condition and a dangerous situation.
Through the extension of Uncle Zhang's case, we learned about vitamin D and found that vitamin D has multiple functions and effects, and it does have the effect of preventing infection and anti-cancer. Vitamin D is an indispensable nutrient for the human body, we can properly supplement vitamin D, but when we supplement through various methods, we must pay attention to the amount of supplementation to avoid affecting the health of the body.
Bibliography:
purple seeds; 123RF. Vitamin D, rest assured supplement? Health Home,2014,(10):52-59.