Does vitamin D promote calcium absorption?

Vitamin D is a nutrient that is of great significance and function to the human body. If the human body lacks vitamin D, it is easy to have symptoms such as pigeon breast, bow legs, and anemia. Of course, vitamin D can promote calcium absorption. However, although vitamins are very important, they cannot be supplemented in excess, because too much vitamin D can also cause harm to human health!

1. What role does vitamin D play in children? How much is needed every day?

Vitamin D can promote the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus and deposit it in the bones. When blood calcium is low, calcium in the bones can also be dissolved into the blood. Therefore, vitamin D is very important for children's bone development, maintaining calcium and phosphorus balance, and enabling calcium to function in important tissues and organs such as nerves, heart and muscles. The daily vitamin D intake for children of all age groups is 400 international units, which is equivalent to 10 micrograms (1 million micrograms is 1 gram).

2. What diseases can children develop due to vitamin D deficiency?

Because of the importance of vitamin D to the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus, when vitamin D is deficient, children often suffer from rickets (osteomalacia) caused by bone calcium deficiency and tetany (calcium deficiency convulsions in children) caused by low blood calcium.

Rickets is common in children aged several months to 2-3 years old, and often has symptoms such as softening of the skull, closure of the anterior fontanelle, delayed tooth eruption, pigeon chest, rib beads, ectropion of the lower costal margin, bracelets on the hands (feet), O-shaped legs, X-shaped legs, etc. There are also developmental delays, delays in standing and walking, and are often accompanied by malnutrition and anemia.

Infantile tetany is common in infants under one year old, more often in early spring. The patient often has multiple convulsions a day, with spasms in the hands and feet, but the patient is in normal spirit afterwards. Spasms in the laryngeal can cause suffocation.

3. What are the dangers of excessive vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be stored in the body. The daily requirement for humans is very small. If the daily intake is too much, or large doses are taken several times in a row (orally or by intramuscular injection), symptoms of overdose or even poisoning may occur, and in severe cases, it may be life-threatening. When there is an excess of vitamin D, people often have a decreased appetite, food intake, and no weight gain. They may also experience irritability, polyuria, increased blood calcium and vitamin D metabolites (25-hydroxy D), and calcium deposition in organs such as the heart and kidneys. Severe cases may eventually lead to death from renal failure.