Bengaluru :
Exposing your face and forearms to 30 minutes of sunlight between 11 am and 4 pm will get you sufficient Vitamin D for a day, says Dr C V Harinarayan of Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru.
The Medical Council of India recently conferred him with the BC Roy Award for his work in the field of endocrinology and metabolic bone diseases.
Twenty-five other doctors of various fields also received the honour from President Pranab Mukherjee on World Doctors’ Day.
Despite India being a hot country, most of the population is affected by Vitamin D deficiency.
In 1990, a team led by Harinarayan conducted a study among the people of villages surrounding Tirupati in Andhra Pradhesh. The doctor was working with Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences then.
“We found that the agricultural labourers of the region, despite exposing 80 per cent of their bodies to the hot sun for over eight hours a day, suffered from a deficiency of Vitamin D. The reason, research revealed, is that they don’t include sufficient calcium in their diet, which prevents the Vitamin D from being synthesised,” he explains.
The human body requires 1,000 mg of calcium a day. The labourers of the villages were found to consume only 260 mg, the study showed.
The urban population, on the other hand, consumes 600 mg a day. Vitamin D deficiency and bone diseases were found to be common among them too.
“People in metropolitan cities work in air-conditioned offices all day. Lack of exposure to sun makes them vulnerable to bone ailments,” Harinarayan says.
The doctor explains, “When the body faces a calcium deficiency, the parathyroid hormone – which makes the bones release more calcium into the blood – is released. Patients with hyperparathyroidism and calcium deficiency are prone to bone diseases as excess secretion of the hormone weakens the bones.”
He advises the urban youth to take a half-hour walk post lunch. “Besides speeding up your metabolism, it will expose you to sunlight and get you your daily dose of Vitamin D,” he says.
Children too should be allowed to play in the sun for an hour every day, he adds. “Milk and dairy products can be natural sources of calcium. Supplements are also advisable.”
While at SVIMS, Harinarayan and his team of doctors developed a IRMA radioimmunoassay with financial aid from Baba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai.
“It is a kit that is used to deduce the parathyroid hormone levels in the blood. Earlier, we used imported kits. Under Prime Minister Modi’s Make in India intiative, we’re trying to develop the technology here,” he says.
The imported technology that costs Rs 35,000 will be available for Rs 3,500 once the indigenous kits gain popularity, he adds.
Currently the director of the Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Thyroid and Osteoporosis Disorders at Sakra World Hospital, Harinarayan is working on a research project on Vitamin D deficiency in children.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express Features / July 07th, 2016