Why You Should Be More Careful About Your Vitamin D Intake During Monsoons

PRO Diagnostics Vitamin D Deficiency blog

Why Sunlight is so important for Vitamin D?

A simple blood test, a vitamin d test can detect Vitamin D in your body. But why it is so important to undergo vitamin d test? 

Vitamin D is also called as the “Sunshine Vitamin”. Sunlight is very essential in the synthesis of Vitamin D in the human body.  Our skin produces vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. The sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur.

During the monsoon season, it can be difficult to get enough vitamin D from natural sources of sunlight. During heavy rains, there is a large cloud cover for majority duration of the day leading to very less or no direct sunlight exposure. This leads to Vitamin D deficiency.

What is the use of Vitamin D?

After vitamin D is absorbed through the skin or acquired from food or supplements, it gets stored in the body’s fat cells.  Vitamin D’s best-known role is to keep bones healthy by increasing the intestinal absorption of calcium. Bone health is primarily dependent on Vitamin D.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Family Care found that vitamin D deficiency is common in all age groups and high-risk groups in India, and can lead to serious health problems, including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and tuberculosis.

What are the signs and symptoms of infection during monsoon?

Fever, Sweating, Chills and shivering, Headache, Muscle aches, Loss of appetite, Irritability, Dehydration, General weakness, Sore throat, Loose motions, burning micturition, Vomiting etc.
If you are having continuous fever, you must consult a doctor as disease progression in some of the infections can be very fast and lethal. And accurate treatment can be given only after accurate diagnosis.

What are the symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency?

Due to lack of Calcium absorption overall bone and muscle health is deteriorated.

Tiredness, fatigue, muscle pain, bone pain, frequent bone fractures (brittle bones), muscle loss, hair loss are very common symptoms & signs of Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D also plays important role in wound healing. Vitamin D deficiency also leads to anxiety and depression.

Chronic Vitamin D deficiency can also lead to cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and even cancer. Obesity is another major sign of Vitamin D deficiency.

What are the causes of Vitamin D deficiency?

As mentioned earlier, lack of exposure to natural sunlight is the major reason of Vitamin D deficiency. Apart from that lack of Vitamin D rich diet, chronic kidney disease, over-weight, medications reducing absorption also leads to Vitamin D deficiency.

Another major reason of Vitamin D deficiency in recent times, is our modern routine. Working hours, late night shifts, indoor work and lack of nutrient due to certain food habits are  causing Vitamin D deficiency.

PRO Diagnostics Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency and COVID:

The potential consequences of vitamin D deficiency during monsoon- season are increased severity and mortality rates due to COVID-19, as indicated by a new study published in SSRN. Due to delayed wound, tissue healing, lung damage is more severe in COVID with Vitamin D deficiency.

What is the test for Vitamin D and how much does it cost in Pune?

The most common test for vitamin D deficiency is the 25-hydroxy vitamin D test. It is a blood test which can be done at any given time. There is no need of fasting required for this test.

Normal levels of Vitamin D :

30-100 ng/ml Sufficient

10-30 ng/ml Insufficient

Below 10 ng/ml Deficient                              

Prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency – More than 50% of population is at risk of Vitamin D deficiency.

At PRO diagnostics, pune, we provide Vitamin D test at ₹ 1600.

Results can be obtained within 6-8 hours of sample collection.

What is the treatment of Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D can be obtained from Sunlight, nutrients rich in vitamin D and supplements. As the sunlight is not available during monsoons, Vitamin D nutrients become more important.

Fish (Salmon, tuna, sardines), Egg yolks, Oat meal, Cereal Meal, Cow Milk, Orange Juice, Liver meat, fortified soya milk, mushrooms are some easily available food sources of Vitamin D. You must include these foods in your diet during rainy season.

Vitamin D Supplements – Guidelines from the Institute of Medicine increased the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin D to 600 international units (IU) for everyone ages 1-70 years. There are multiple vitamin supplements available in the market to choose from.

At PRO diagnostics, we also provide nutrition and diet support. Dr. Manasi Kanetkar-Paranjape, clinical nutrition expert is available at PRO diagnostics on appointment basis to provide complete diet chart to tackle Vitamin d deficiency problem.

What else you can get at PRO diagnostics?

At PRO diagnostics, you will get all types of blood, urine, fluid tests at best rates. PRO diagnostics is a modern fully computerized Pathology lab in Pune. It is situated at Kothrud, Pune. Dr. Chaitrangi Paranjape (M.D. Pathology) is the owner and chief pathologist at PRO diagnostics. With the help of experienced staff and modern technologies PRO diagnostics are providing all types of pathology reports promptly & accurately.

Best part is you don’t need to go out in this rainy season to give blood sample, our experienced phlebotomist will visit your home for blood collection.

To book tests https://prodiagnosticsindia.com/ or call us at 9856620620

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Home Collection Services for blood samples are available at Pro Diagnostics, Pathology Lab.

You can book a home visit for blood sample collection in just 3 simple steps. Click here to watch the video or read here.

A doctor’s prescription is not mandatory to get the test done. You can also consult our expert doctor before you undergo any tests. Call us at 9856620620 for doctor consultation.

Dr. Chaitrangi Paranjape, is the chief consultant pathologist at Pro Diagnostics Pathology Lab Pune. She has more than 10+ years of experience in pathology.

Your blood samples or any pathological sample are processed at our central pathology at Kothrud. Get Direction.

Most of the reports are delivered to you within 12 hours from the time of sample collection.

Yes. We will send you a digital report via WhatsApp or email.

Yes. We do provide full body checkup in pune. You can read more about it in our health blog here.

You can check our services list here. (Following that, click Download Brochure to get test prices.)

Yes. We do all types of fluid pathology tests. To consult our doctor for pathology tests, contact us.