In the past, cod liver oil was available because our grandparents and great-grandparents knew that children without sufficient vitamin D intake were in danger of developing a disease called rickets. Bone disease called rickets. Particularly at risk were those children who, due to their social situation, received neither sufficient nutrition nor sufficient sunlight.
That was a long time ago. Now the discussion about vitamin D is experiencing a renaissance, albeit on a different level. Everywhere there is talk of vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D is literally on everyone's lips, the administration of the miracle vitamin colecalciferol, which is actually a hormone, is very widespread. For the deficiency that can now be measured is also widespread (among other things, extremely low levels of vitamin D were found in hospital doctors many years ago), and at the same time science is discovering ever new important properties of this hormone that so many of us lack.
The facts about vitamin D
Vitamin D is truly multi-talented. It is generally agreed that the hormone affects up to 200 genes in intestinal, nerve or mammary gland cells, Prostate-nerve or mammary gland cells, and receptors have been found throughout the body.
Indeed, vitamin D is irreplaceable for the absorption of calcium from the intestine and for bone mineralisation. But it also has an influence on the immune system. A link to increased incidence or activity of autoimmune and rheumatic diseases is being discussed, and there is evidence that vitamin D plays a positive role in the regulation of inflammatory processes, including the molecular control of inflammatory and immune processes in the skin. Psoriasis is much more common in northern latitudes than in the south, and recent work has shown a link between vitamin D deficiency and chronic inflammatory diseases. Inflammatory bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease), and sufficient vitamin D levels are said to reduce the risk of colon cancer. For a neurological systemic disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), low vitamin D levels are now also associated with more severe disease progression and more frequent relapses. These are just a few examples of studies on the positive effects of vitamin D. And what about the so-called seasonal (winter) depression caused by a lack of light? A connection between depressed mood and vitamin D deficiency has now been established, as well as for fatigue syndrome. And even the development and course of cognitive disorders such as dementia are said to be influenced by vitamin D.
How can we ensure an adequate vitamin D supply?
We can form vitamin D in the skin under UVB radiation, which means it is not actually a vitamin. How much of it we can form depends on age and skin type, as well as on the intensity of sunlight. In our latitudes, sufficient UV radiation actually only arrives in summer, but even this we largely keep away from: We spend most of our time indoors, we have learned to protect ourselves against UV radiation with sunscreens to minimise the risk of skin cancer, and we know that UV radiation drives skin ageing, so that consistent UV protection has long become part of personal anti-ageing concepts. However, we can try to expose less sensitive areas of skin to the sun for a few minutes a day in summer if possible.
Despite even so healthy diet we can unfortunately hardly take in sufficient amounts of colecalciferol with our food. Therefore, it is recommended to take colecalciferol as a food supplement. The general recommendation is about 10,000 to 20,000 I.U. weekly, which nowadays can easily be done with one capsule every 1 - 2 weeks. However, this should be accompanied by a doctor in order to avoid overdoses and side effects.
We doctors at the Stephansplatz Clinic have drawn our conclusions from the above findings:
We no longer work in the hospital (but also for many other reasons), but under the bright glass dome of the Alte Oberpostdirektion, which is beneficial for our vitamin D supply.
And the determination of the vitamin D level and the supplementation of vitamin D is one of the essential components of a holistic health consultation and preventive medicine and is also a regular topic at Check up examinations a regular topic.
