Vitamin D overdose in baby
Particularly with infants as well as babies, who naturally take naturally rather little food and thus little Vitamin D to itself, a Vitamin D deficiency prophylaxis is important in almost all cases, since with a pronounced lack the danger of the Rachitis, a bone illness, which is called also English illness, threatens. With mother’s milk alone, babies do not take up enough vitamin D, so that the recommendation of one vitamin D tablet (10 to 12.5 ug) daily applies to all babies. This prophylaxis should be carried out for all children from about 8 days of age until they reach the age of one year.
Under this therapy, which is commonly used today, no problems or side effects are usually to be expected. Nevertheless, even today some babies are still noticed during the administration of vitamin D in the first year of life. These babies suffer from a specific genetic defect that prevents the correct formation of the breakdown enzyme of vitamin D. The children are therefore unable to produce vitamin D-degrading enzymes and thus cannot break down vitamin D.Excessive administration of vitamin D leads to signs of poisoning such as severe hypercalcaemia (too much calcium in the blood), growth retardation, hormonal imbalances, vomiting, dehydration, fever and kidney damage in the form of calcification of the kidneys.
This is called idiopathic infantile hypercalcaemia. It is estimated that 1 in 47,000 children is affected.
