Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D is a vitamin D level that is below normal. It most commonly occurs in people when they have inadequate exposure to sunlight, particularly sunlight with adequate ultraviolet B rays. Vitamin D deficiency can also be caused by inadequate nutritional intake of vitamin D; disorders that limit vitamin D absorption; and disorders that impair the conversion of vitamin D to active metabolites, including certain liver, kidney, and hereditary disorders. Deficiency impairs bone mineralization, leading to bone-softening diseases, such as rickets in children. It can also worsen osteomalacia and osteoporosis in adults, increasing the risk of bone fractures. Muscle weakness is also a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, further increasing the risk of falls and bone fractures in adults.
Vitamin D can be synthesized in the skin under exposure to UVB from sunlight. Oily fish, such as salmon, herring, and mackerel, are also sources of vitamin D, as are mushrooms. Milk is often fortified with vitamin D; sometimes bread, juices, and other dairy products are fortified with vitamin D. Many multivitamins contain vitamin D in different amounts.
Classifications
Vitamin D deficiency is typically diagnosed by measuring the concentration of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the blood, which is the most accurate measure of stores of vitamin D in the body. One nanogram per millilitre () is equivalent to 2.5 nanomoles per litre ().
The National Institutes of Health cautions that "serum concentrations of 25(OH)D that are associated with vitamin D deficiency have not been definitively identified", but endorses the following guidelines: NIH Classification ng/mL nmol/L Deficient < < Inadequate Adequate ≥ ≥ Potentially Excessive > >
Some researchers characterize < (or <) as severe deficiency, stating that it "dramatically increases the risk of excess mortality, infections, and many other diseases".
Vitamin D levels falling within the adequate range prevent clinical manifestations of vitamin D insufficiency as well as vitamin D toxicity.
The Endocrine Society previously characterized 20 ng/mL - 29 ng/mL as "insufficiency", but updated its guidelines in 2024.
Signs and symptoms
In most cases, vitamin D deficiency is almost asymptomatic. It may only be detected on blood tests but is the cause of some bone diseases and is associated with other conditions:
Complications Rickets, a childhood disease characterized by impeded growth and deformity of the long bones. The earliest sign of vitamin D deficiency is craniotabes, abnormal softening or thinning of the skull. Osteomalacia, a bone-thinning disorder that occurs exclusively in adults and is characterized by proximal muscle weakness and bone fragility. Women with vitamin D deficiency who have been through multiple pregnancies are at elevated risk of osteomalacia. Osteoporosis, a condition characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased bone fragility Increased risk of fracture Myopathy: Muscle aches, weakness, and twitching (fasciculations) due to reduced blood calcium (hypocalcemia); impaired muscle glycogen metabolism (abnormal glycogen accumulation), atrophy of type II (fast-twitch/glycolytic) muscle fibres, and diminished calcium uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (needed for muscle contraction). Periodontitis, local inflammatory bone loss that can result in tooth loss. Pre-eclampsia: There has been an association between vitamin D deficiency and women who develop pre-eclampsia in pregnancy. The exact relationship of these conditions is not well understood. Maternal vitamin D deficiency may affect the baby, causing overt bone disease from before birth and impairment of bone quality after birth. Respiratory infections and COVID-19: Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of severe acute respiratory infections and COPD. Emerging studies have suggested a link between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 symptoms. A review has shown that vitamin D deficiency is not associated with a higher chance of having COVID-19 but is associated with a greater severity of the disease, including 80% increases in the rates of hospitalization and mortality. Schizophrenia: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the development of schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia generally have lower levels of vitamin D. The environmental risk factors of seasonality of birth, latitude, and migration linked to schizophrenia all implicate vitamin D deficiency, as do other health conditions such as maternal obesity. Vitamin D is essential for the normal development of the nervous system. Maternal vitamin D deficiency can cause prenatal neurodevelopmental defects, which influence neurotransmission, altering brain rhythms and the metabolism of dopamine. Vitamin D receptors, CYP27B1, and CYP24A1 are found in various regions of the brain, showing that vitamin D is a neuroactive, neurosteroid hormone essential for the development of the brain and normal function.
Depression and Anxiety: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, and screening is recommended in the prevention and treatment of planning these mood disorders. There is also a possible link between Vitamin D deficiency and the development of OCD.
Risk factors Those most likely to be affected by vitamin D deficiency are people with little exposure to sunlight. Certain climates, dress habits, the avoidance of sun exposure, and the excessive use of sunscreen protection can limit production of vitamin D in the skin.
Age Elderly people have a higher risk of having a vitamin D deficiency due to a combination of several risk factors, including decreased sunlight exposure, decreased intake of vitamin D in the diet, and decreased skin thickness, which leads to further decreased absorption of vitamin D from sunlight.
Fat percentage Since vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) are fat-soluble, humans and other animals with a skeleton need to store some fat. Without fat, the animal will have a hard time absorbing vitamin D2 and vitamin D3, and the lower the fat percentage, the greater the risk of vitamin deficiency, which is the case in some athletes who strive to get as lean as possible.
Malnutrition Although rickets and osteomalacia are now rare in Britain, osteomalacia outbreaks in some immigrant communities included women with seemingly adequate daylight outdoor exposure wearing typical Western clothing. Having darker skin and reduced exposure to sunshine did not produce rickets unless the diet deviated from a Western omnivore pattern characterized by high intakes of meat, fish, and eggs and low intakes of high-extraction cereals. In sunny countries where rickets occurs among older toddlers and children, rickets has been attributed to low dietary calcium intakes. This is characteristic of cereal-based diets with limited access to dairy products. Rickets was formerly a major public health problem among the US population; in Denver, almost two-thirds of 500 children had mild rickets in the late 1920s. An increase in the proportion of animal protein in the 20th-century American diet coupled with increased consumption of milk fortified with relatively small quantities of vitamin D coincided with a dramatic decline in the number of rickets cases. One study of children in a hospital in Uganda, however, showed no significant difference in vitamin D levels of malnourished children compared to non-malnourished children. Because both groups were at risk due to darker skin pigmentation, both groups had vitamin D deficiency. Nutritional status did not appear to play a role in this study.
Obesity There is an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency in people who are considered overweight or obese based on their body mass index (BMI) measurement. The relationship between these conditions is not well understood. Different factors could contribute to this relationship, particularly diet, and sunlight exposure. Alternatively, vitamin D is fat-soluble, so excess amounts can be stored in fat tissue and used during winter when sun exposure is limited.
Sun exposure The use of sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 8 can theoretically inhibit more than 95% of vitamin D production in the skin. In practice, however, sunscreen is applied so as to have a negligible effect on vitamin D status. Vitamin D sufficiency of those in Australia and New Zealand is unlikely to have been affected by campaigns advocating sunscreen. Instead, wearing clothing is more effective at reducing the amount of skin exposed to UVB and reducing natural vitamin D synthesis. Clothing that covers a large portion of the skin, when worn on a consistent and regular basis, such as the burqa, is correlated with lower vitamin D levels and an increased prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.
Regions far from the equator have a high seasonal variation of the amount and intensity of sunlight. In the UK, the prevalence of low vitamin D status in children and adolescents is found to be higher in winter than in summer. Lifestyle factors such as indoor versus outdoor work and time spent in outdoor recreation play an important role.
Additionally, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with urbanisation in terms of both air pollution, which blocks UV light, and an increase in the number of people working indoors. The elderly are generally exposed to less UV light due to hospitalisation, immobility, institutionalisation, and being housebound, leading to decreased levels of vitamin D.
Darker skin color Because of melanin which enables natural sun protection, dark-skinned people are susceptible to vitamin D deficiency. Three to five times greater sun exposure is necessary for naturally darker skinned people to produce the same amount of vitamin D as those with light skin.
Malabsorption Rates of vitamin D deficiency are higher among people with untreated celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency from cystic fibrosis, and short bowel syndrome, which can all produce problems of malabsorption. Vitamin D deficiency is also more common after surgical procedures that reduce absorption from the intestine, including weight loss procedures.
Critical illness Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased mortality in critical illness. People who take vitamin D supplements before being admitted for intensive care are less likely to die than those who do not take vitamin D supplements. Additionally, vitamin D levels decline during stays in intensive care. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) or calcitriol given orally may reduce the mortality rate without significant adverse effects.
Breastfeeding Infants who exclusively breastfeed need a vitamin D supplement, especially if they have dark skin or have minimal sun exposure. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all breastfed infants receive (IU) per day of oral vitamin D.
Pathophysiology
Decreased exposure of the skin to sunlight is a common cause of vitamin D deficiency. People with a darker skin pigment with increased amounts of melanin may have decreased production of vitamin D. Melanin absorbs ultraviolet B radiation from the sun and reduces vitamin D production. Sunscreen can also reduce vitamin D production. Medications may speed up the metabolism of vitamin D, causing a deficiency.
The liver is required to transform vitamin D into 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is an inactive metabolite of vitamin D but is a necessary precursor (building block) to create the active form of vitamin D.
The kidneys are responsible for converting 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is the active form of vitamin D in the body. Kidney disease reduces 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D formation, leading to a deficiency of the effects of vitamin D.