Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

You can overdose on vitamin D<!-- wp:html --><div></div> <div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Doctors warn of the dangers of taking too much vitamin D after a man became so sick that doctors feared he had cancer.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The middle-aged patient, from Kent, lost two stones in three months after constant vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">His symptoms started a month after taking a daily cocktail of 20 over-the-counter supplements, which amounted to 80 times the recommended dose of vitamin D.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The unnamed patient was hospitalized and underwent a series of scans to rule out cancerous growths.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Blood tests showed that his vitamin D level was seven times higher than normal and that he had suffered acute kidney damage.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He was kept in the hospital for over a week and given medications and intravenous fluids to flush the supplements out of his system.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The doctors who treated him warned his case “further highlights the potential toxicity of supplements that are largely considered safe.”</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Doctors warn of dangers of taking too much vitamin D after man was hospitalized with kidney failure</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D — the sunshine vitamin — helps regulate the amount of calcium in the body, keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The NHS advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement in the fall and winter.</p> <div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS health"> <h3 class="mol-factbox-title">What is vitamin D and how do I get it? </h3> <div class="ins cleared mol-factbox-body"> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D is a type of vitamin that the human body both obtains from food and produces when exposed to sunlight. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">What does it do?</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">It helps regulate <span>the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body.</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">People who do not get enough vitamin D can develop bone disorders such as rickets in children and osteomalacia (a softening of the bones) in adults. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">How do I get enough vitamin D?</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">In the UK, most people get the vitamin D they need from sunlight between April and September, as long as they go outside.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The body naturally produces vitamin D when it is exposed to sunlight.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D is also found in foods such as oily fish, liver and egg yolks.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">Should I take a supplement?</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The NHS says people should consider taking a vitamin D supplement in the winter month, when sunlight is weaker.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Other people may need vitamin D all year round because they are housebound, or if they have dark skin, which reduces the amount of sunlight their skin absorbs. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Children ages one to four should also receive a 10-microgram (µg) vitamin D supplement daily throughout the year. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">How much should I take? </span> </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The NHS advises that 10g per day is sufficient for most people.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span class="mol-style-bold">What happens if I take too much? </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Taking too much for a long time can lead to a dangerous build-up of calcium in the body, which can weaken the bones and also damage the heart and kidneys.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The NHS advises adults against taking more than 100 µg per day.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Children aged one to ten years should not consume more than 50 g per day and infants under 12 months should not consume more than 25 mg per day. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D is often sold in units called IU. One microgram of vitamin D is equal to 40 IU.</p> </div> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">But if you take too much, it can lead to too much calcium in the body, forcing the kidney to work harder to filter it.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Adults and children older than one year are advised not to consume more than 600 mg of vitamin D per day.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The last case – revealed in the magazine <a target="_blank" class="class" href="https://casereports.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bcr-2022-250555" rel="noopener">BMJ Case Reports</a> – described a man who took a daily dose of 50,000 mg, 83 times the recommended amount.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He was referred to hospital by his GP after complaining of repeated vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and leg cramps for three months during which he lost 12 kg.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The patient was also plagued with tinnitus – ringing in the ears – dry mouth and unquenchable thirst.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He had been recommended by his private dietitian to start an intensive vitamin supplement program, doctors said.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Once he began to feel unwell, he stopped taking his daily cocktail of vitamins, which also included omega-3, vitamins B2, B9, C, K2, plus several other mineral and probiotic supplements.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">But the symptoms did not go away.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He was hospitalized for CT and MRI scans to rule out cancer and bacterial infections as the cause of his symptoms.<span> </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The man was kept in the ward after further tests revealed excessive amounts of calcium in his body and damage to his kidneys.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He spent eight days in the hospital, where he was put on an intravenous drip to clear the supplements from his body.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Doctors also treated him with bisphosphonates — drugs normally used to strengthen bones — to further reduce excess calcium in the blood. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Two months after discharge from the hospital, his calcium levels had returned to normal, but his vitamin D levels remained abnormally high.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">NHS doctors who treated him concluded: ‘Given the slow turnover (half-life of about two months) during which vitamin D toxicity occurs, symptoms can last for several weeks.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“This case report further highlights the potential toxicity of supplements that are largely considered safe until taken in unsafe amounts or in unsafe combinations.”</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D toxicity is usually caused by large doses of vitamin D supplements — not diet or sun exposure.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">That’s because the body regulates the amount of vitamin D produced by sun exposure, and even fortified foods don’t contain enough vitamin D to become toxic.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The main consequence of vitamin D toxicity is a buildup of calcium in the blood, known medically as hypercalcemia, which can cause nausea and vomiting, weakness and frequent urination. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Vitamin D toxicity can lead to bone pain and kidney problems, such as the formation of calcium stones.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">High doses are sometimes used to treat medical problems such as vitamin D deficiency, but they are only given under a doctor’s supervision for a period of time. Blood levels should be monitored while a person is taking high doses of vitamin D.</p> </div><!-- /wp:html -->

Doctors warn of the dangers of taking too much vitamin D after a man became so sick that doctors feared he had cancer.

The middle-aged patient, from Kent, lost two stones in three months after constant vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

His symptoms started a month after taking a daily cocktail of 20 over-the-counter supplements, which amounted to 80 times the recommended dose of vitamin D.

The unnamed patient was hospitalized and underwent a series of scans to rule out cancerous growths.

Blood tests showed that his vitamin D level was seven times higher than normal and that he had suffered acute kidney damage.

He was kept in the hospital for over a week and given medications and intravenous fluids to flush the supplements out of his system.

The doctors who treated him warned his case “further highlights the potential toxicity of supplements that are largely considered safe.”

Doctors warn of dangers of taking too much vitamin D after man was hospitalized with kidney failure

Vitamin D — the sunshine vitamin — helps regulate the amount of calcium in the body, keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

The NHS advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement in the fall and winter.

What is vitamin D and how do I get it?

Vitamin D is a type of vitamin that the human body both obtains from food and produces when exposed to sunlight.

What does it do?

It helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body.

These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

People who do not get enough vitamin D can develop bone disorders such as rickets in children and osteomalacia (a softening of the bones) in adults.

How do I get enough vitamin D?

In the UK, most people get the vitamin D they need from sunlight between April and September, as long as they go outside.

The body naturally produces vitamin D when it is exposed to sunlight.

Vitamin D is also found in foods such as oily fish, liver and egg yolks.

Should I take a supplement?

The NHS says people should consider taking a vitamin D supplement in the winter month, when sunlight is weaker.

Other people may need vitamin D all year round because they are housebound, or if they have dark skin, which reduces the amount of sunlight their skin absorbs.

Children ages one to four should also receive a 10-microgram (µg) vitamin D supplement daily throughout the year.

How much should I take?

The NHS advises that 10g per day is sufficient for most people.

What happens if I take too much?

Taking too much for a long time can lead to a dangerous build-up of calcium in the body, which can weaken the bones and also damage the heart and kidneys.

The NHS advises adults against taking more than 100 µg per day.

Children aged one to ten years should not consume more than 50 g per day and infants under 12 months should not consume more than 25 mg per day.

Vitamin D is often sold in units called IU. One microgram of vitamin D is equal to 40 IU.

But if you take too much, it can lead to too much calcium in the body, forcing the kidney to work harder to filter it.

Adults and children older than one year are advised not to consume more than 600 mg of vitamin D per day.

The last case – revealed in the magazine BMJ Case Reports – described a man who took a daily dose of 50,000 mg, 83 times the recommended amount.

He was referred to hospital by his GP after complaining of repeated vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and leg cramps for three months during which he lost 12 kg.

The patient was also plagued with tinnitus – ringing in the ears – dry mouth and unquenchable thirst.

He had been recommended by his private dietitian to start an intensive vitamin supplement program, doctors said.

Once he began to feel unwell, he stopped taking his daily cocktail of vitamins, which also included omega-3, vitamins B2, B9, C, K2, plus several other mineral and probiotic supplements.

But the symptoms did not go away.

He was hospitalized for CT and MRI scans to rule out cancer and bacterial infections as the cause of his symptoms.

The man was kept in the ward after further tests revealed excessive amounts of calcium in his body and damage to his kidneys.

He spent eight days in the hospital, where he was put on an intravenous drip to clear the supplements from his body.

Doctors also treated him with bisphosphonates — drugs normally used to strengthen bones — to further reduce excess calcium in the blood.

Two months after discharge from the hospital, his calcium levels had returned to normal, but his vitamin D levels remained abnormally high.

NHS doctors who treated him concluded: ‘Given the slow turnover (half-life of about two months) during which vitamin D toxicity occurs, symptoms can last for several weeks.

“This case report further highlights the potential toxicity of supplements that are largely considered safe until taken in unsafe amounts or in unsafe combinations.”

Vitamin D toxicity is usually caused by large doses of vitamin D supplements — not diet or sun exposure.

That’s because the body regulates the amount of vitamin D produced by sun exposure, and even fortified foods don’t contain enough vitamin D to become toxic.

The main consequence of vitamin D toxicity is a buildup of calcium in the blood, known medically as hypercalcemia, which can cause nausea and vomiting, weakness and frequent urination.

Vitamin D toxicity can lead to bone pain and kidney problems, such as the formation of calcium stones.

High doses are sometimes used to treat medical problems such as vitamin D deficiency, but they are only given under a doctor’s supervision for a period of time. Blood levels should be monitored while a person is taking high doses of vitamin D.

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