Mother warns against vitamin D after losing baby with rickets

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Vitamin D is mainly produced by exposure to the sun. From 10 to 15 minutes a day, in spring, summer and autumn, in fair-skinned people, are sufficient. In winter and in dark-skinned people, who naturally synthesize less vitamin D, the exposure should be higher.

The best time is when the incidence of UVB rays is high, between 10am and 4pm, and with a body part

For children up to 2 years of age , the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP) recommends 30 minutes a week during the first year of life (6 to 8 minutes a day, three times a day). week), diaper alone – the exposure should be indirect until 6 months – and 2 hours a week (17 minutes a day) with the exposed hand and face, without a hat.

Vitamin D is also present in certain foods such as oily fish (salmon, tuna or sardines), eggs and mushrooms. But the diet only meets about 10% of the intake of vitamins, and the routine does not always allow sufficient exposure to the sun's rays to have a satisfactory level.

Deficiency and supplementation

Vitamin D deficiency is related to obesity, respiratory problems, diabetes, bone problems (osteoporosis, osteomalacia and rickets), cardiovascular diseases, dermatitis, intestinal inflammation, arthritis and depression.

This problem worsens in places where the climate is not sunny, as is the case in the United Kingdom. But studies show that it affects a significant number of people even in countries with a more favorable climate, such as Brazil.

"Some people say that sunbathing is enough, but it may not be," says Beverley,

The Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolology (SBEM) says that current scientific evidence does not indicate the need for widespread use of supplements by the population.

complete the daily needs to combat the deficiency identified by the exams and prevent the problem when it is likely to develop it or not to be exposed to the sun, such as patients with skin cancer Having undergone a transplant or lupus [19659002] The doses recommended by SBEM are 10 micrograms per day from 0 to 8 years, from 15 micrograms from 9 to 70 years and from 20 micrograms to over 70.

the SBP indicates the use of supplements in a preventive way until the child reaches the age of 2 years. One of the reasons is the exposure before 10 am and after 4 pm, when the sun's rays indicate more oblique, because in winter, little vitamin is synthesized by the skin.

"On the other hand, sun exposure in this period may be badociated with an increased risk of skin cancer.Therefore, vitamin D supplementation is highly recommended." L & # The organization provides doses of 10 micrograms in the first 12 months and 15 micrograms in the following

But, as SBEM points out, "the treatment doses vary according to the degree of disability and the target to be reached. " One problem is that the deficiency is often seen only in an advanced stage, when symptoms such as muscle weakness, bone pain and swelling of the wrists appear, and that the ideal is d? have a medical follow-up.

Late diagnosis

Doing this diagnosis on a baby like Noah was a challenge. His mother claims to have taken him to several doctors when he became ill and that vitamin D deficiency and rickets were only diagnosed shortly before Noah's death in January 2017.

"Vitamin D is a silent killer, I now have a child because of an invisible disease that no one could detect."