Vitamin D and vitamin B12 deficiencies are two of the most common findings in Indian health checks. Both can go unnoticed for years, and both are easy to test for.
Vitamin D: low despite the sunshine
Your skin makes vitamin D in direct sunlight. Yet a large share of people in India are low, because most of us work indoors, cover most of our skin, are out mainly in the early morning or evening when the sun is weaker, and live under air pollution that filters sunlight. Darker skin also needs longer in the sun to make the same amount.
- Possible signs: tiredness, aching bones or back, muscle weakness or cramps, and falling ill often. Many people have no signs at all.
- The test: 25-OH vitamin D. No fasting is needed.
- Reading it: commonly, below 20 ng/mL is deficient, 20 to 29 is insufficient, and 30 or above is sufficient. Check the range on your report.
Do not start high-dose vitamin D on your own. Too much builds up in the body and can be harmful, so let your doctor set the dose from your result, and retest after a few months.
Vitamin B12: a vegetarian's blind spot
B12 comes almost entirely from animal foods: milk, curd, paneer, eggs, fish and meat. Vegetarians who take little dairy, and vegans, are most at risk. So are older adults, and people who have taken metformin for diabetes or acidity medicines for a long time, as both reduce how much B12 the body absorbs.
- Possible signs: tiredness, pins and needles or numbness in the hands and feet, poor memory or concentration, mouth ulcers, and anaemia.
- The test: serum vitamin B12, from the same blood sample as vitamin D.
- Low B12 that goes untreated for a long time can damage nerves, so it is worth catching early.
When to test
If you have the signs above, are vegetarian or vegan, are over 50, or take metformin or acidity medicines regularly, a combined vitamin D and B12 test is a simple place to start. If you are treated, a repeat test after about three months shows whether it is working.
