Syed Khaled Shahbaaz,
Hyderabad, 3 Nov2014 : Busting the myths of Vitamin D and shining light on its health benefits and hazards of its deficiency, Helping Hand Foundation put the World Vitamin Day November 2 to exemplary use. The foundation, headed by Mr.Mujataba Hussain Askari, in association with Vitamin D Council USA has endeavoured to provide comprehensive guidelines on the benefits of Vitamin D and the miraculous cures hidden in it.
This vital vitamin can fight something as chronic as cancer or just boost the functionality of your genes, thus positively influencing the health and keeping the recipes of major illnesses at bay.
The NGO which specializing in promoting public health and preventive healthcarekickstarted a 12-day long awareness campaign to educate and create awareness of this vital Vitamin the mostly incognizant masses. Ironically, a whopping 1/3rd of the world population is Vitamin D deficient thus qualifying Vitamin D deficiency to be termed as a pandemic and more also ‘a world problem’.
In its humanitarian effort, the Helping Hand Foundation in collaboration with ElbitDiagnostics, is striving to make the otherwise expensive Vitamin D Serum tests more affordable, since the NGO claims the testing facilities for Vitamin D tests are not available in any of the tertiary government hospitals in the city, forcing the poor to rely on private centres for testing.
Earlier, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mr. T. Rajaih ceremonially inaugurated the campaign by lighting the lamp. Heemphasized the importance of Vitamin D and urged the citizens to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
Reiterating Vitamin D Deficiency as a world problem, the minister said that Vitamin C deficiency was earlier a major problem but with the right approach is now obsolete; similarly Vitamin D deficiency can also be effectively handled. He assured that the Telangana government will support this cause and conduct a grass-root level research to assess the severity of the deficiency after consultation with the Chief Minister of Telangana.
Later, Mr MujtabaHasanAskari, Managing Trustee and President of HHF presented comprehensive guidelines on Safe Sun Exposure, the benefits of Vitamin D and the health hazards due to its deficiency. He said ‘it’s alarming to note that 1/3rd of the world population is deficient in this vital Vitamin and surprisingly even the well-learned section of the society including professionals working in the corporate sector are affected too’ blaming exceedingly indoor lifestyle for ‘belittling the Vitamin D production’.
He said ‘Helping Hand Foundation’ has empathetically launched the Vitamin D Awareness drive is an unprecedented endeavour to bring awareness and shine the lights of Vitamin D cognizance on the vast majority of population that’s deficient in Vitamin D – a wizardly Vitamin that affects 2000-3000 genes in an individual. This miraculous vitamin can help combat even chronic diseases like cancer if Vitamin D levels are much above normal in the patient.
Sufficient levels of Vitamin D can help in not only combating but preventing several chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, auto immune diseases, infectious diseases, arthritis, asthma and many more. Not only this, Vitamin D can also improve pregnancy outcome, and help the younger generation fight autism, depression and insomnia. Vitamin D is also proving to be a critical factor in age-related dementia, Alzheimer’s etc.
In the Serum Vitamin D test carried out for the underprivileged patients suffering from chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, skin psoriasis etc. , HHF found that out of 75 tests done, 95% of the patients were found deficient (copies of test reports are available on request). No wonder why the deficiency has been dubbed ‘a world problem’.
Not only that, in 388 tests of Vitamin D conducted over 5 days for a reputed corporate organization, a shocking majority of the tested employees were reported deficient in Vitamin D. Apparently, the extended indoor lifestyle has reduced the sunlight exposure thereby thwarting the production of Vitamin D in the body and becoming a cause of major diseases.
Just half an hour of sunlight exposure in the midnoon without the Sunscreen can help your body produce as much as 10,000 IU of Vitamin D from the sun rays in the mid-noon. However, adequate and sensible exposure with face and eyes covered, and keeping from washing off the sun-exposed areas with soap for 48 hours(the time taken by the body to produce Vitamin D) can help restore Vitamin D levels in an individual.
With its unique Vitamin D correction program, the NGO has been striving hard to guide people on Safe Sun Exposure to help effectively get safe and adequate sunlight. In some cases, Vitamin D supplements are necessary for aligning the vitamin D levels with therapeutic ranges. The Endocrine Society recommends normal levels between 30-60 ng/ml.
Vitamin D tests are pretty easy. You can ask your doctor to add it to your next routine blood panel.
The writer is a techie-turned journalist. He may reached at syedkhaledshahbaaz@gmail.com or +91-9652828710