Vitamin D

We all need vitamin D in order to maintain normal levels of calcium in our bodies.  Surprisingly, the single largest source of vitamin D is through synthesis of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) in the lower layers of our skin epidermis through a chemical reaction that is dependent on exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation.  We can also get vitamin D through our diet (primarily via fortified milk, fortified breakfast cereals, or fish).   The biologically inactive cholecaciferol is converted to its active form in the kidney and liver.  

I was taught in medical school that one of the most common risk factors for vitamin D deficiency was inadequate exposure to the sun (people living far from the Earth's equator where there is less sunlight year-round are particularly at risk).  As winter fast approaches, the days have been getting shorter and shorter.  For the last several weeks, I have been walking to and from work in the dark (yes, I am fortunate enough to be able to walk to work right now).  I don't drink as much milk as I used to, so I am glad that starting tomorrow, the days will start getting longer again.  

Today, December 21st is the shortest day of the year - the winter solstice (which is technically defined as the day when the Earth's pole, in this case the North Pole, has reached its maximum tilt away from the sun)!  Starting tomorrow, the days will start to get longer again, and with more potential exposure to sunlight, my vitamin D levels should start to improve.  

December 21, 2021 is noteworthy, at least to me, for another reason as well.  If today is the shortest day of the year, it is also the longest night of the year.  Darkness will turn to light.  We wait with anticipation for the coming dawn, the light of a new day.  This year, of all years, we look to the sunrise with hope and anticipation.

I know it seems like things are getting bad again.  COVID-19 cases are starting to surge, and as infectious disease experts predicted, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has become the dominant variant in the United States.  We've been dealing with this pandemic for almost 2 years, and I know people are tired of COVID-19.  However, I believe that we can still look to the future with hope and anticipation.  December 21st is truly symbolic.  There is, and there always will be, hope.

The author Orison Swett Marden said, "There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow."  The late Senator Edward Kennedy said, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dreams shall never die."  Jesse Jackson said, "At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division."  Finally, Desmond Tutu said, "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."

Hope is our vitamin D.  We need the light of the coming dawn to give us hope.  We need hope to move us forward to the new day.

We can choose to look at all the things that are going wrong in our lives, and with the omicron variant, we seem to be going in the wrong direction.  Or, we can recognize that today is the darkest day of the year, which means that there is hope for tomorrow.  We can continue to do what we need to do to make sure that this pandemic will end, for all of us.  We can hope.  We can dream.  And we can go forward.