Comment by Abishek_Muthian | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Abishek_Muthian | Hacker News Reader

Abishek_Muthian

I've had Vitamin D deficiency from the child and I suffer from Achondroplasia(not diagnosed until recently). I've had ilizarov fixations twice during childhood to fix the bow legs and I had explicit medication for Vitamin -D only when I was teen for couple of years.

But after 15 years, I nearly ended-up becoming a Quadriplegic[1] and I was told my bone condition was like that of 80 year old (I was 32). For the past 2 years I've had single Zoledronic acid injection each year to treat the osteoporosis along with monthly Vitamin D3-Cholecalciferol 60K IU, recent tests showed that there has been about ~ 10% improvement in bone density at some areas and few areas have become worse.

I often wonder if whether I had been put through proper Vitamin D supplement from childhood, the situation would have turned out this bad.

Anyways, Vitamin D seems like the new Yoga and everything from memory to COVID prevention is being attributed to it; but I can say one thing for sure from my experience - If your Vitamin D is low, take proper medication on doctor's advice and follow it up regularly as bone diseases don't come with warning unlike other organs in our body.

[1]https://abishekmuthian.com/i-was-told-i-would-become-quadrip...

Very sorry for your problems.

No disrespect intended, I am biologically challenged, but I do not understand how anyone can have a Vitamin D deficiency when 15 minutes of sunlight a day on the skin creates all the Vitamin D anyone needs, and too much Vitamin D is very bad. I suppose it makes sense in the Winter months when everyone is inside for months, but usually, the sun shines every day, even in Winter.

Even during the nicest weather of the year, I don't typically spend 15+ minutes outside every single day, and even when I am outside, only my arms below the elbow and face are exposed.

It simply does not follow from "the sun shines" that "everyone basks in it all the time".

Good question.

I have discussed at length regarding this with endocrinologists.

There is no shortage for the source of Vitamin D - As you mentioned - UV from Sun, certain food and of course supplements. But the destination should be able to activate it. So, in my case my body is not able to activate the Vitamin D in the system properly and so is the case with most Vitamin-D deficient people.

>Vitamin D obtained from sun exposure, food, and supplements is biologically inert and must undergo two hydroxylations in the body for activation. The first occurs in the liver and converts vitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], also known as calcidiol. The second occurs primarily in the kidney and forms the physiologically active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D], also known as calcitriol[1].

Further, Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption in the gut. Hence, the lack of Vitamin D causes bone problems among other issues.

[1]https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessiona...

> usually, the sun shines every day, even in Winter.

Not in Vancouver! And even on the few sunny winter days, the full daylight hours might typically be spent in an office. Even the commute happens in the dark.

Latitude matters. The farther north you are the more time in the sun you’d need. In some far north places, the sun you do get is not strong enough to get any Vit D.

https://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2635300

https://www.grassrootshealth.net/document/sunshine-calendar/

I'm from South India and I know two people in my family with severe Vitamin D deficiency. Sunlight-> Vitamin D won't happen for most people with a white collar job even if you are near equator. Hospitals in India rarely offer that test as it's expensive. We insisted on getting one after severe back pain and other symptoms.

I've seen studies that show quite low levels of Vitamin D in even healthy rural south Indian farm workers. The average was ~ 20 ng/mL. The study authors speculate that the high levels of phytates in the typical Indian diet might be to blame.

Not everyone can afford getting half naked under the sun on a daily basis. It's easier to be deficient than you think. Do a blood test. You may get an unpleasant surprise. I think about half of the population is either insufficient or deficient without supplementation.

It really depends on what counts as insufficient. There is enough debate in the scientific literature on what constitutes a "sufficient" level of Vit D for most healthy adults. If we set the sufficiency level of 25(OH)D of 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L), most of the world's adult population would be in the healthy range. These levels can be achieved in a healthy Caucasian adult in a northern latitude in summer (eg, Edinburgh, Scotland) with as little as, say, two sessions of 10 minutes each in a week, exposing just the arms and legs.

Serum levels of Vitamin D also do not plummet with the winter months - it's more of a slow dip, and the seasonal low levels do not seem to negatively effect most adults.

I've seen that claim given as "15 minutes of full body exposure to noonday sun", which is obviously quite different from what most of us might get. Also I expect it depends on your skin tone. If anyone could dig up the original source for the 15 minutes claim I would be curious (tried a bit but have to get back to work).

Low magnesium impairs vitamin D activity and levels. Same occurs as a result of declining hGH/IGF-1 with age. Further, cholesterol within skin diminishes with age (and cortisol rises) lessening response to sunlight.

The further north, the less days of direct sunlight. Exposure would have to also be all over, but most are covered by clothing.

Hi, look into Vitamin K2 and Boron if you haven’t. Both are good complements with Vitamin D and are useful for bone density.

Thanks, Several others(not doctors) have recommended this as well, but my potassium levels were fine in the test results. There is an in-depth blood profiling regarding my bone health planned next year, I'm planning to find out more about the role of K2 and Boron and whether it affects me before that.

Potassium? Did you check cellular potassium rather than serum?

Further, vitamin K is a vitamin. Potassium is a mineral. Search online for "vitamin K2 MK-4" and "vitamin K2 MK-7"..

My bad, earlier discussions were reg Potassium mineral w.r.t bone health and not K2 in specific. I'll bookmark this and explore further on K2.

Stressing again:

Potassium is a mineral marked K

There is a a group of vitamins marked K, among them K1 and K2 (with various forms such as MK4 and MK7).

There is NO relation between those too, except the coincidence in using the same letter. What you want w.r.t to bone health is specifically Vitamin K2, not K1, and not the mineral K (a.k.a Potassium).

(This is similar to vitamin C having no particular relation to element C, a.k.a Carbon).

If I may add please look into harmala alkaloids specifically harmine to aid in bone density . It is completely unregulated in the USA and the doses required to achieve a proper response isn't high enough to cause nausea or other effects . Dosing twice a day is good enough .

But as always do you own research and read up on contradictions . I recall reading this many years ago because if its effects on DYRK1A

Although I'm not currently planning to try any self-medication, I will study about Harmala alkaloids to learn about its significance with bone density. Thank you.

"bone anabolics" is a great term to research these substances

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