PGIMS centre to assess Vitamin D in athletes

Rohtak, October 21

Department of Sports Medicine and Sports Injury Centre, Rohtak PGIMS, will conduct a research project on sportspersons to assess the levels of Vitamin D in the state athletes. As many as 500 athletes in the age-group of 10-30 years will be selected for the assessment from different sports centres, academies and educational institutes of Haryana.

The project has been approved by the PGIMS authorities and involves the detection of Vitamin D deficiency in sportspersons and suggestion of preventive measures and remedy.

“The deficiency of Vitamin D is very common among people. As per recent estimates, up to 50 per cent of people in general and 40 per cent sportspersons are Vitamin D deficient,” said Dr Rajesh Rohilla, senior professor and head of the sports medicine department, who will be the principal investigator of the project.

He said Vitamin-D deficiency could cause stress fractures in athletes, make them prone to infections, decreased performance, myalgia, fatigue and decreased function of heart and lungs.

Dr Manju Lata, professor at the Department of Biochemistry, will be the co-investigator, while Dr Shilpa, sports nutritionist, will assist in project compilation.

More than one-third of the medals in prestigious international sporting events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games have been won by the sportspersons from Haryana. The sports injury centre was recently established, keeping in view the sports culture in the state.