Last Tuesday (5), the scientific journal BMJ Case Reports reported the case of a middle-aged man who suffered vitamin D poisoning in the United Kingdom. For about a month, he took daily doses 250 times higher than recommended by experts.
The man, who has not been identified, was admitted to hospital with diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, as well as complaints of ringing in the ears and leg cramps. He didn’t see a doctor until three months after the onset of symptoms, when he had already lost about 12 kilos.
The Briton took 150,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D a day – the daily dose recommended by experts is 400 to 600 IU. He even made use of 20 other dietary supplements. When he arrived at the hospital, he had a weakened kidney and a high amount of calcium in his blood, which can interfere with the functioning of the heart and brain.
Vitamin D is essential for bone health and for maintaining the correct levels of calcium in the body. According to doctor Victoria Zeghbi Cochenski Borba, member of the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabology and professor at UFPR (Federal University of Paraná), “vitamin D is important in the incorporation of the mineral in the bone, for it to become firmer, harder”.
“With a more severe vitamin D deficiency, calcium absorption is reduced and the bone will become soft. In children we call it rickets; in adults we call it osteomalacia”, said the endocrinologist.
In children, the disease causes bone deformities and muscle weakness and, in adults, microfractures, muscle pain and falls.
Also according to Borba, the substance is also important for the proper functioning of immune system cells. The lack can worsen infections, autoimmune diseases and respiratory diseases such as asthma.
How to get the daily doses of the vitamin?
According to nutritionist Maria Cláudia Bernardes Spetoto, the recommended daily dose of vitamin D is 600 IU for individuals between 1 and 70 years of age and 800 IU for individuals 71 years of age or older.
The best source of vitamin D is the sun, he says. Ultraviolet rays stimulate the formation of a vitamin D precursor in the skin, which is then activated in the liver and kidneys. About 15 minutes of sun exposure with bare arms and legs is enough to produce the equivalent of 800 IU of vitamin D.
According to Spexoto, who holds a PhD in nutrition from Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista) and a researcher at the Laboratory of Studies in Epidemiology and Aging at UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos), vitamin D can also be found in fatty fish, in the yolk boiled egg, cod liver oil and beef liver.
Who should take vitamin D supplementation?
Pregnant women, people with obesity and people with chronic diseases metabolize more vitamin D and need a higher daily consumption than recommended for healthy people. Elderly people and residents of cities with low incidence of sunlight may also need supplementation.
Black people should beware. Melanin decreases the synthesis of vitamin D and, therefore, people with dark skin should sunbathe with a greater exposed body surface – without a shirt, for example.
According to Borba, healthy people who sunbathe daily and go to the beach a few times a year do not need to worry.
Most vitamins, when consumed in excess, are eliminated by the body, but vitamin D accumulates in the liver and fat cells. This also happens with vitamins A, E and K. This accumulation causes high consumption to lead to toxic levels of the substance.
Excess can cause liver and kidney failure, increased blood calcium, high blood pressure and problems with the functioning of muscles such as the heart and nervous system.
Vitamin D and Covid-19
The substance was part of the so-called Covid Kit, a set of medicines that have no scientific proof for the treatment of the disease that was prescribed by doctors to treat the coronavirus infection. Data from the Federal Pharmacy Council show that, in the first months of 2020, the sale of this supplement in Brazil increased by 83% compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to the doctor Alexandre Naime Barbosa, professor at Unesp and vice president of SBI (Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases), people with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop severe Covid, but supplementation should not be used in the treatment or prevention of the disease. illness.
A study by researchers from UFSCar and USP (University of São Paulo) published in the scientific journal Clinical Nutrition last month showed that patients with vitamin D deficiency had a higher risk of mortality than patients with normal levels of vitamin D.
However, according to Barbosa, “the replacement of vitamin D in this short period [de infecção por covid] It won’t solve the problem.” “You have a while until this vitamin is absorbed and replaced. It is not indicated in patients with Covid-19 the use of vitamin D, vitamin C or any other vitamin.”
According to the infectologist, the only effective drugs against the disease are some antivirals and monoclonal antibodies and the only ways to prevent infection are to vaccinate, wear a mask and avoid crowds.
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