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Vitamin D deficiency can lead to death: study comes to frightening results

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Germany is not exactly sun-drenched. Therefore, more and more people apparently believe that they suffer from a vitamin D deficiency. Pharmacies alone sold vitamin D supplements in 2017 for around 177 million euros. The IQVIA company that monitors the pharmaceutical market has calculated this.

When do you speak of a lack of vitamin D?

Birgit Niemann from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) explains that we only speak of a deficiency when people have symptoms, i.e. are sick. Widespread deficiency symptoms used to be found in iodine, for example. Since the 1980s, the consumption of iodine-enriched salt has been recommended throughout Germany. “This is not the case with vitamin D,” emphasizes Niemann. “We expressly disagree with the view that there is a comprehensive vitamin D deficiency in Germany.”

BfR is not only interested in whether the population lacks something – the institute also wants to know how optimally people are cared for. “And there is still room for improvement in many vitamins,” says Niemann. Vitamin D is also one of them.

When asked whether nutritional supplements were necessary and sensible, the BfR replied: “Data on nutrient intake indicate that a few vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D, calcium, folic acid and iodine, are not in accordance with the recommended intake by some population groups in Germany of the German Nutrition Society (DGE eV). However, this is not generally to be equated with an undersupply or even a deficiency. In individual cases, a nutritional supplement may make sense. For example, the intake of additional calcium for people who do not consume dairy products, Table salt has also been enriched with iodine for many years in order to improve iodine intake in Germany on a broad basis. “

In contrast to medicinal products, food supplements in Germany did not go through any regulatory approval process in which the actual health safety must be proven. The product range on the German market is checked by the official food surveillance, according to the BfR.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment expressly recommends only one food supplement: “To improve or sustainably secure the supply with sufficient amounts of folic acid, women with a desire to have children and during pregnancy are advised to supplement their diet with dietary supplements. The vitamin folic acid has a beneficial effect the secure closure of the neural tube in the embryonic phase and reduces the risk of so-called neural tube defects, such as ‘open back’ (spina bifida), in newborns. “

At what values ​​is a deficiency assumed?

According to the Robert Koch Institute, well over half of adults in Germany do not reach the optimal serum concentration of 50 nanomoles per liter (nmol / L) or 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng / ml). Do they all have a deficiency? “No,” says Niemann. “But it could be that you are at risk of undersupply.”

Because there is always a risk of undersupply if the serum concentration is below the optimal value. However, doctors only speak of a deficiency if the value is much lower – 10 ng / ml for a moderate deficiency and 5 ng / ml for a serious deficiency. Both are relatively rare, says Schatz.

Infants, who therefore receive vitamin D nationwide, and a few others are at higher risk: people, for example, who don’t leave the house at all or only in veils, seniors over 65 and people with dark skin tones. Prophylactic use of vitamin D can be considered in these groups, says Schatz.

What does vitamin D deficiency mean for health?

However, undersupply does not sound like something you would like to have. But what does that actually mean in concrete terms? “That is at the core of the problem,” says Schatz: “We don’t know.” In numerous studies, scientists have tried to find out whether people with low vitamin D levels die earlier, whether they are more likely to develop cancer or have a heart attack.

Several studies also found a connection between respiratory and rheumatic diseases or diabetes and a low concentration of vitamin D in the blood. “But the question here is: Does the low vitamin D value increase the risk of rheumatism, for example? Or is it the other way round: Does the disease affect the vitamin D level?”

So you can increase your vitamin D value without pills

If you absolutely want to know whether you are adequately cared for, the Stiftung Warentest offers a blood test via your family doctor. If he sees no reason for the check, the patient has to pay the around 20 euros himself. The check is not part of a normal check-up.

And whoever thinks that he can’t make ends meet without food supplements can swallow such pills at his own expense, says Schatz. Dosages of 800 to 1000 international units (IU) at least do no harm to the body. If someone takes more than 4000 IU for no medical reason. to yourself, but the kidney may suffer, for example.

And then there is the natural way to soak up vitamin D: the sun. If you want to contribute to an optimal care of your body, you should go to the door every day. “You don’t have to lie in the sun for half a day,” says Niemann. “Enough 25 minutes a day.” Around a third of the body should be exposed to the sun.

“As a rule of thumb we say: half the time to sunburn”, adds Treasure. Do not worry that the skin does not produce enough vitamin D in winter. “Anyone who stays outside for a short period of time in the summer fills up their storage facilities to such an extent that they can get through the winter well.” Walks are also worthwhile in winter. Because even when the sky is covered, vitamin D is still formed in the skin.

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