Hypovitaminosis D – is it a problem in Tasmania? ($3,356)
Dr George Razay, the Launceston General Hospital’s Director of Geriatrics, supervised the studyundertaken by Melina Wilson as an Honours project in the Bachelor of Medical Science degree (B Sci/MBBS).
Hypovitaminosis D is a condition in which the affected person does not have enough Vitamin D in their blood (Vitamin D deficiency). Vitamin D is a nutrient which is important in the maintaining healthy bones and research suggests that it may also decrease the risk of occurrence of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, certain mental health conditions and certain cancers. Too little Vitamin D can hence be detrimental to health.
The study objective was to identify how many people admitted to the Launceston General Hospital have low levels of Vitamin D in their blood. This would allow information to be provided to the medical profession as to whether we should pay more attention to the Vitamin D status of patients and thus enable improvement in patient care.
Given that Hypovitaminosis D represents a significant medical co-morbidity; and considering specific environment and climatic considerations of the State, it would seem prudent to determine the Vitamin D nutritional status of a Tasmanian hospitalised population and to access the requirement for further investigation of the general community.
The conclusion was that Vitamin D deficiency is common in Launceston General Hospital medical inpatients and is associated with sun exposure patterns and functional status.
Tasmania's Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust was established in 1991.