(8362) 42-03-12
Republic of Mari El, Yoshkar-Ola city, K.Marksa street, 121
marbiopharm@marbiopharm.ru
Visitors
MainVisitorsVitamins → Vitamin D

←Back to the list

Vitamin D

History of discovery

A vitamin, born with the light, they called it... Its another name is calciferol, “Carrying calcium”.

Our ancient ancestors had suffered from a lack of this vitamin, their fossil bones retain traces of rickets. The first scientific description of the disease was given by the British doctors. In 1650 the University of Cambridge published the most comprehensive treatise on rickets. However, it had described only the symptoms of the disease but did not specify the means for its treatment. Gradually, as experience was gained, the same British doctors, still not knowing the cause of the disease, found the means of treating with ordinary fish oil.

The veil over this mystery was lifted when the relationship between the frequency of rickets and its geography was noticed. The incidence of rickets was particularly high in the northern regions, where there were only few sunny days a year. Conversely, in sunny Italy the disease is rare. Rickets was also rampant among the poor, who were stocked into the cramped quarters, in the basements and semi-basements on narrow, shaded streets. Organisms of children who grew up in such an environment, was particularly susceptible to rickets.

In 1919, a German physician Gulchinskiy reported the successful treatment of rickets with the using of the "mountain sun" - the irradiation of sick children with light quartz mercury lamp. A new method had found wide application not only for treatment but also for prevention of the disease. So, two completely different cure for rickets were found: cod liver oil and sunlight or ultraviolet light. It was something for the researchers to think of...

Clue was brought by accident. English explorers Hume and Smith, while causing rickets among the laboratory rats through keeping them in the dark on a special diet, devoid of fish oil, were quite discouraged when after a series of successful experiments rickets among animals suddenly stopped receiving. A thorough analysis of all the details of the experiment revealed the culprit of the failures. They were ... sawdust used as bedding in the cells of the experimental animals - this time it spent some time lying down on the sun. Ingenious conjecture that under the action of the sun the antidote similar to the substance that is present in fish oil produces in the sawdust, made it possible to explain the effect of both curing factors - light and fat - based on a single mechanism. This substance had become known as - vitamin D.

What does vitamin D do?

Vitamin D, while helping your body to absorb calcium plays a major role in the development of bone tissue. It is necessary for normal blood clotting, regulation of the heart and the nervous system. A fat-soluble vitamin, it absorbs along with other fats through the intestinal walls and then concentrates mainly in the liver.

Where can it be found?

The best source of vitamin D is a sunlight. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays skin produces vitamin D.

It can be found in raw egg yolk, dairy products, cheese, cottage cheese, butter, liver, fish and sea products. The richest sources of this vitamin are liver of cod and halibut, herring and tuna.

How much vitamin D do you need?

The daily requirement for vitamin D is 25 micrograms.

Lack and excess of the vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency primarily affects the bone tissue and blood composition. Diseases associated with impaired calcium metabolism can develop: i.e. arthritis, allergic skin diseases, asthma.

Overdose of vitamin D, as well as its lack contributes to bone softening.

Vitamin D is contained in the following medicines:

Vitamin D is contained in the following biologically active supplements: