About 75 per cent of Mumbaikars lack Vitamin D

About 75 per cent of Mumbaikars lack Vitamin D
Nikita , CNN-

Mumbai: There's no shortage of sunlight in the country and yet 75 per cent of Mumbaikars surveyed have a severe deficiency of the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D, which our bodies produce naturally, when exposed to sunlight.

Dr Vimla Puri, Head of Dept of Lab Medicine, Hinduja Hospital said, "Its is an underlying epidemic which is very alarming, and these are the elite group of people who come to Hinduja hospital. I cant imagine what levels would be in the rural population."

It's not just this survey of 1100 Mumbaikars by PD Hinduja hospital. Studies by the Arthritis Foundation of India have found that an average of 70 per cent of urban Indians have a Vitamin D deficiency.

Many of us work in air-conditioned offices, go back to air conditioned homes and commute in air-conditioned cars. Think of it, in a sunny country like ours, we don't spend more than 30 sunscreen-free minutes in the sun.

Sunscreen may protect against harmful UV rays, but doctors say it can also block elements the body needs to produce vitamin D.

Dr Kaushal Malhan, Ortho Fortis said, "We are sitting in the sunlight today, we are getting a lot of Vitamin D, but to get adequate benefits of sunlight I need to have at least 15 per cent of my body exposed to sunlight. So if I am all covered with clothes even if they are cotton clothes the sunlight will not work. If I am sitting in a room with glass all around and even if the sunlight is coming all through the glass it will not work."

There is no substitute for a regular dose of sunlight with the lack of vitamin D being linked to bone disorders, diabetes and some cancers.

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