Vitamin D Status: A Different Story in the Very Young versus the Very Old Romanian Patients

Abstract

BackgroundIn Romania (latitude 48°15’N to 43°40’N), vitamin D supplementation is common practice mostly in infants 0-1 year old. No published information is available regarding epidemiological data on vitamin D status in the Romanian population for a wide age range and geographical territory. In this context, we aimed to evaluate the seasonal and age variation of vitamin D status in a large Romanian population.Methods6631 individuals from across Romania had performed 7544 vitamin D assessments (2012-2014) in a chain of private laboratories. Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3) was measured using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Vitamin D levels were classified as severe deficiency<10ng/mL, deficiency 10-20ng/mL, insufficiency 21-29ng/mL, sufficiency≥30ng/mL and potentially harmful>100ng/ml.ResultsMale to female ratio was 1:2.9. Age ranged from 0 to 85 years. Mean vitamin D levels increased from April (26.3ng/ml) to September (35.6ng/ml) and decreased from October (33.5ng/ml) to March (24.4 ng/ml). Overall 40% had sufficient vitamin D, while the rest were insufficient 33%, deficient 22%, severely deficient 4% and 1% potentially harmful (of them 81% under 1 year old). Males compared to females showed higher percentages of sufficiency (47% vs. 38%). Children 0- 2 years presented the highest percentage of vitamin D sufficiency (77%). Lowest percentages (21%) of sufficiency were in people 80-84 years.ConclusionIn Romania, suboptimal vitamin D levels are common (59%), especially in older age, wintertime and in women. Vitamin D supplementation would be most warranted from January to April in the Romanian population. 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels>100ng/ml were relatively prevalent in children 0-1 year old (17.3%). This was attributed to supplementation errors and the fact that high-risk individuals were more likely to visit for medical check-up. Nonetheless, it stresses the need to increase awareness of the importance of preventing Vitamin D supplementation administration errors in the young.

Vitamin D Levels of Out-Patients in Lithuania: Deficiency and Hypervitaminosis

“…Men had higher mean 25(OH)D levels than women in the whole sample. Similar results were found in the Netherlands and Romania [ 20 , 21 ]. Although the reasons for the sex-specific differences are still unclear, possible explanations might be that women have a higher percentage of body fat, a greater avoidance of sunlight, including increased sunscreen use, and wear more covering clothing when going outside [ 22 ].…”

“…Genetic disturbances, e.g., when catabolism of VitD metabolites is reduced [ 28 ], are rare and do not seem to be the main explanation of the aforementioned findings. Interestingly, in one retrospective study in Romania, a small proportion of participants had 25(OH)D levels higher than 100 nmol/L, or even higher than 150 nmol/L, mainly in the group of children younger than 10 years of age [ 21 ]. It must be kept in mind that young kids have relatively low body masses and relatively high fat masses.…”

Vitamin D Deficiency Among Doctors and Staff Nurses: A Neglected Domain Among Medical Care Givers

“…It is further classified as insufficiency from 20 to <30ng/ml, deficiency between 10 ng/ml and 20 ng/ml, and severe deficiency <10 ng/ml. (13) Literature from different countries, about vitamin D deficiency, clearly demonstrates magnitude of the issue but there are only few studies regarding this among health care professionals. To the best of authors' knowledge nothing as such has been carried out in Pakistan for the evaluation of vitamin D status among doctors or/and staff nurses.…”

Фактори Ризику Дефіциту Вітаміну D Серед Українських Жінок У Карпатському Регіоні

“…Traditionally, population that is considered at risk of vitamin D deficiency is the elderly, especially postmenopausal women. But some of the recent studies demonstrate the lack of a clear age gradient in vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency occurrence [14].…”