Softening of children’s bones with permanent bowing of the legs, (“bandy legs”), medically known as rickets, was fairly common before World War II. With the discovery that rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency, bandy legs have become rare.
Now, with rickets a thing of the past, physicians are beginning to see an illness due to vitamin D excess called hypercalcemia, a high concentration of calcium in the blood. Symptoms of hypercalcemia include weakness, nausea, vomiting, thirst, frequent urination, and distaste for food. Left untreated, hypercalcemia can produce kidney stones and kidney damage with high blood pressure.
According to the Lancet (1: 229), people vary in the amount of vitamin D excess they can tolerate without getting hypercalcemia, and it may not be safe for everyone to take a tablet containing vitamin D every day. The elderly who are not eating well and all growing children probably can benefit from taking a multi-vitamin tablet (containing vitamin D) every day, but well-nourished adults usually get enough vitamin D from their food, unless they are on a diet.
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