Concentration of vitamin D in the blood serum of women and men of different ages in the Ural Federal District in 2020–2022

Abstract

Currently, the international medical community lacks systematic, scientifically based data concerning status of vitamin D in various age and gender groups of the population. This situation can lead to incorrect identification of risk groups and the choice of suboptimal ways to solve the problem of vitamin D deficiency in the population. Therefore, the purpose of this work was the study of the status of vitamin D in men and women of different ages. Our research was conducted using a unique database containing 263,269 anonymized measurements of vitamin D levels in residents of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District in 2020–2022, freely provided at our disposal by INVITRO-Ural LLC. The results of our calculations show that in the Urals Federal District the lowest level of vitamin D was observed among adolescents of both sexes, which is on average lower than in the oldest age group of 80+ years. This effect is most noticeable in females, in whom the decline in vitamin D levels begins earlier than in boys and also ends earlier. The explanation for this phenomenon may lie in a combination of processes, the most important of which is puberty of the body, accompanied by an intense increase in bone mass and an increase in body mass index. Many scientists and practitioners associate the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among adolescents with increased levels of a number of diseases, which can be prevented and/or reduced by using the vitamin D supplements.