Vitamin D

Doctors at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and five other hospitals have done some research and as a result have produced a paper, now published in the scientific journal Pediatrics.  They concluded their research study with the emphasis of just how important supplementary vitamin D is to the health and well-being of people living in Northern latitudes.

In particular, it was the health and well-being of children that fed their study.  The human body produces vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight.  In spring and summer the sun's rays are important for that manufacture within our bodies of vitamin D.  It helps build strong bones, and helps fight off infections.  It aids the body to recoup its strength when we're ill. 

During the fall and winter months we're far less exposed to the sun, and the sun's rays are weak at those times, so we manufacture less vitamin D.  It has been years since people were being persuaded by those in the health profession to take supplementary vitamin D.  And most Canadian children need those supplements, the dose reflecting their age and weight.

A severe deficiency of vitamin D may cause rickets or crooked bones.  And pneumonia.  "We've known for 100 years that vitamin D was necessary for good bone growth", says Dr. Dayre McNally an intensive care physician.  He began his vitamin D investigations after he discovered low vitamin D in children with joint and muscle pain.  Then found that children with severe respiratory and blood infections suffered from low vitamin D.

While a deficiency of vitamin D may not be noticed when we're in good health, once health has deteriorated for any reason, when we're deficient in vitamin D, it becomes more difficult to recover from illness.  That deficiency has its effect on many bodily organs and tissues including the heart, lungs, muscles and brain.

Women lacking vitamin D during pregnancy affect their babies.  Breast-fed babies should be getting a vitamin supplement, according to the study.  Other Canadian studies have pointed to the fact that "compliance with vitamin D in infants and young children is terrible".