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La Importancia de la Vitamina D3
La Vitamina D se puede clasificar tanto como una vitamina como una pre-hormona .
El requerimiento para un adulto puede ser tan alto como de 5000 a 10,000 IU (Unidades Internacionales) en dosis terapéuticas.
Algunas personas han escuchado que la Vitamina D es importante para la absorción de Calcio y la formación y mantenimiento de los huesos. Sin embargo existen un sin numero de funciones en el organismo que se relacionan con esta vitamina.
Estudios recientes demuestran que niveles altos de Vitamina D previenen varias enfermedades como: diabetes, osteoporosis, osteoartritis, hipertensión, enfermedad cardiovascular, síndrome metabólico, depresión, enfermedades autoinmunes y ciertos cánceres como el de seno, próstata y colon.
Nuevos descubrimientos señalan que además de existir receptores en el hueso e intestino; otros órganos como el cerebro, seno, próstata y linfocitos cuentan también con receptores de esta Vitamina
La Vitamina D3 (Cholecalciferol) se obtiene principalmente en dos formas: por medio de la luz del sol y por medio de la dieta o suplementos.
La Vitamina D interviene en varias funciones neurológicas y funciona como un neurotransmisor; por lo tanto ayuda a para combatir la depresión y las convulsiones.
Se conoce también como un inmunoregulador ya que reduce inflamación además de mejorar o prevenir ciertas enfermedades inmunológicas, reducir el riesgo a desarrollar cáncer y posiblemente reducir la severidad y frecuencia de enfermedades infecciosas como neumonía en los niños..
La deficiencia de Vitamina D ó Calcio promueven la elevación de la hormona Paratiroidea (PTH) la cual promueve una cascada de reacciones adversas que afectan la función normal de las células lo cual puede promover el desarrollo de Diabetes, Enfermedades Neurológicas, tumores malignos y enfermedades degenerativas de huesos y articulaciones.
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The Importance of Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3 can be classified as both a vitamin and a pro-hormone. The requirements for adults might be as high as 5000 IU/day.
Some people have heard about the importance of Vitamin D for calcium absorption and bone formation; but Vitamin D has other numerous functions in the body. Recent research has shown that higher levels of this vitamin provide protection from diabetes, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, depression, several autoimmune disease and cancer of the breast, prostate, and colon.
New discoveries show that many tissues besides the gut and bone also have receptors for Vitamin D such as the brain, breast, prostate and lymphocytes.
Vitamin D is obtained naturally from two sources: sunlight and dietary consumption. Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) is the form of Vitamin D produced in the skin and consumed in the diet.
Vitamin D appears to modulate neurotransmitter/neurologic functions and it has antidepressant and anticonvulsant benefits.
Vitamin D or Calcium deficiency leads to elevation of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) which may promote a cascade of cellular dysfunctions that can contribute to the development of Diabetes, neurologic diseases, malignancy, and degenerative joint disease.
According to the National Institute of Health, there is a link in between seasonal variations of Vitamin D levels and the incidence of septic shock and infectious diseases due to bacteria, viruses or fungi, including respiratory infections.
Vitamin D is known as an immune-regulator because it modulates the formation of proinflammatory cytokines which help reduce inflammation. It has been observed that it promotes the formation of antimicrobial peptides, promotes the inactivation of viral pathogens and promote the formation of Phagocytes.
All these attributes support the hypothesis that Vitamin D levels of the host, may have a direct correlation in how the immune system responds to infectious diseases including the frequency, severity and duration of the symptoms, this includes respiratory infections such as pneumonia, Gastrointestinal infections, and other autoimmune diseases and the risk to develop cancer.
Stimulates the immune system to produce vitamin D modulates cytokine profiles in animal models of autoimmune disease through limiting excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-12, and thus leading to suppression of inflammation (24). In addition, the antimicrobial peptides cathelicidin and β-defensin, regulated in part by vitamin D (11,15), also have a major role in the immune defense of the respiratory system through direct inactivation of viral pathogens (25) and increased recruitment of phagocytes (26). Collectively, these studies support the hypothesis that optimal vitamin D status of the host may contribute key immunoregulatory functions in settings of viral respiratory infection by downregulating overly exuberant (and thus toxic) cytokine responses, while allowing for improved clearance of various microbial species (5).
More recently, epidemiologic studies have demonstrated strong associations between seasonal variations in vitamin D levels and the incidence of various infectious diseases, including septic shock (3), respiratory infection (4), and influenza (4,5).