Vitamin D is necessary for hundreds of cellular processes in the human body. While it has long been known that that certain chronic, bile-related liver diseases carry a high risk of vitamin D deficiency, few scientific investigations have put a number on the association between alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and low levels of the nutrient.

However, a recent study put a number on it. According to a report published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, 55 percent of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis were vitamin D deficient.

Among other things, the study’s authors noted that this rate of deficiency is higher than that of chronic cholestatic liver disease, a condition in which the bile ducts are gradually destroyed by the human immune system.

Also, researchers noted that regardless of the source of the cirrhosis, the extent of the disease predicted the severity of vitamin D deficiency.

Without vitamin D, adults begin to experience osteomalacia and rickets, which are, respectively, a gradual weakening and deformation of the bones, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Since many people cannot make a few minutes of sun exposure a part of their day – and since this practice has its own health risks – taking a daily vitamin supplement can keep levels of this nutrient within a healthy range.