Vitamin D deficiency, skin, and sunshine: A review

Abstract

The sunshine vitamin - “Vitamin D†is a subject of interest that attracted researcher’s attention in the past few decades. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and also a nutrient which increases the calcium absorption and plays an important part in the maintenance of body’s immune system and bone formation. However, the deficiency of Vitamin D, also known as hypovitaminosis D, will affect various body parts such as the brain, heart, muscle, immune system, and bones. Thus, the deficiency leads to severe conditions such as osteopenia, osteoporosis, rickets (in children), hypertension, fractures and falls in adults, cancers, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, infections, and neurological disorders. An effective approach for the deficiency prevention is the thorough understanding of Vitamin D sources, Vitamin D serum levels, and deficiency symptoms, linked with different pathological conditions, requirement and maintenance in the body, sunlight exposure duration, and effective treatment dose. Therefore, the present review will lay an emphasis on the role of Vitamin D, the reasons for its deficiency, available sources, and treatment options reported so far.