Implications of vitamin D Deficiency on Egyptian Adults’ Health

Abstract

Aim: Highlighting some health consequences of hypovitaminosis D on adult Egyptian population. Methods: Fifty-five apparently healthy volunteers aged from 20 to 40 years were involved in the study. By history and physical examination 40 of them had mild clinical manifestation of negligible medical importance that affect the quality of their life without interfering with their daily activity. All volunteers were subjected to vitamin D and calcium dietary intake history, sun exposure assessment, body mass index (BMI), serum vitamin D and calcium profile, bone mineral density measured by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), psychometric evaluation by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score and physical activity evaluation by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results: About 73% of our subjects had hypovitaminosis D (61.8% insufficient and 10.9% deficient). The prevalence was more in the female gender (OR 4.5; p≤ 0.05), older subjects (31-40) age group (OR 4.4; p≤ 0.05), with poor sun exposure (OR 7.8; p≤ 0.05), and low vitamin D and calcium dietary intake (OR 4.6; p≤0.05). Vitamin D deficient group showed the higher prevalence of obesity (45.5%). Osteopenia was detected in seven subjects (14.3%) who had low vitamin D levels. Vitamin D status had a negative correlation (r=-0.653; p=<0.001) with the Beck score, and a positive correlation (r=0.430; p=0.001) with the IPAQ score. Conclusion: Hypovitaminosis D is a frequent condition in the healthy Egyptians that implicates their physical, functional, mental, and emotional health.

The Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on the Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer Outcome

“…In our work, there was no statistically significant association between vitamin D levels and age. In agreement with our results, Ganeb et al [26] investigated the impact of decreased vitamin D levels on the mental status of 55 healthy Egyptian participants aged between 20 and 40 years. They showed no significant correlations between vitamin D levels and age.…”

Evaluating the Feasibility of Pro-Neurotensin and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 as Possible Indicators for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications

“…Vitamin D insufficiency is a frequent condition in healthy Egyptians [ 16 ]. Low levels of vitamin D are related to obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, glucose intolerance, cardiovascular disease, and a high risk of metabolic syndrome [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”