Vitamin D Deficiency
For most people, spending just five to 30 minutes outside twice a week is enough for the body to synthesize healthy levels of vitamin D - Amanda MacMillan
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Why vitamin D has the medical establishment totally confused
At some point in the last decade, screening blood for vitamin D levels became a routine part of medical care. Feeling a little low this winter? Get a vitamin D test. Think you didn't get enough sun last summer? Check your vitamin D levels.
In less than ten years, the amount insurers spent on testing rose from $1 million (in 2000) to $129 million (by 2008). Seventy-five percent of Americans are now on vitamin D supplements.
But, as the interest in and testing for vitamin D has become more popular, researchers have been wondering why: the benefits of these increasingly common practices aren't clear.
Those who have looked at the evidence base for vitamin D screening…
Resources
Everything you ever wanted to know about vitamin D
Knowing your vitamin D levels might not be as important as you think.
Think vitamin D deficiency is not common in Africa? Think again
A number of factors may contribute to vitamin D deficiency in Africa. As we found in the study, urbanisation seems to be a major cause. People are spending more time indoors. In contrast, Africans in rural settings have been reported to have one of the highest levels of vitamin D in the world. Africans have large amounts of melanin in the skin. This is believed to be an adaptation to prevent skin damage due to the sunny African climate. However, it also effectively reduces the amount of vitamin D absorption from the sun.
A Tortured Love of Vitamin D
Why it may never be possible to recommend that everyone take a supplement—as much as people want to believe.
Screening for vitamin D deficiency in adults
The US Preventive Services Task Force reviewed the evidence on screening and treatment of vitamin-D deficiency among community-dwelling, non-pregnant adults, aged 18 years and older without symptoms of vitamin-D deficiency or conditions for which vitamin-D treatment is recommended. Among this population, the Task Force concluded that there is insufficient evidence to screen for vitamin-D deficiency.
The Vitamin D Debate
There’s been a lot of controversy lately about vitamin D recommendations. If you’re confused about how much you should be taking, you’re not alone.
Vitamin D Deficiency including Osteomalacia and Rickets
Adequate vitamin D3 by synthesis in the skin and from dietary and supplemental sources is essential for bone health throughout life. Rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults are the classic but extreme manifestations of severe vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D Deficiency- An Ignored Epidemic
Vitamin D deficiency is a global health problem. With all the medical advances of the century, vitamin D deficiency is still epidemic. Over a billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient or insufficient.(1) Yet no international health organization or governmental body has declared a health emergency to warn the public about the urgent need of achieving sufficient vitamin D blood levels.
Why vitamin D has the medical establishment totally confused
At some point in the last decade, screening blood for vitamin D levels became a routine part of medical care. Feeling a little low this winter? Get a vitamin D test. Think you didn't get enough sun last summer? Check your vitamin D levels.
5 Things You Should Know About Vitamin D Deficiency
Imagine there were a nutrient that could protect your bones, brain and heart, and maybe even help you live longer. It's 100 percent free, and all you have to do to get it is go outside. Seems like something everyone would have plenty of, right? Well, that nutrient exists -- it's vitamin D, which is created by our cells when our skin is exposed to sunlight.
MedicineNet
A deficiency in vitamin D can result from inadequate exposure to sunlight, inefficient production in the skin, not enough vitamin D in your diet, and health conditions that can affect it including, gastrointestinal disorders, renal diseases, and liver diseases.
MedlinePlus
Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures (broken bones). Severe vitamin D deficiency can also lead to other diseases. In children, it can cause rickets. Rickets is a rare disease that causes the bones to become soft and bend. African American infants and children are at higher risk of getting rickets. In adults, severe vitamin D deficiency leads to osteomalacia. Osteomalacia causes weak bones, bone pain, and muscle weakness.
StatPearls
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteomalacia and rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. The fortification of milk with vitamin D in the 1930s was effective in eradicating rickets in the world. However, subclinical vitamin D deficiency is still widely prevalent in both developed and developing countries with a worldwide prevalence of up to 1 billion.
UptoDate
The main reasons for low levels of vitamin D are: ●Lack of vitamin D in the diet, often in conjunction with inadequate sun exposure ●Inability to absorb vitamin D from the intestines ●Inability to process vitamin D due to kidney or liver disease
USPSTF
The USPSTF found evidence suggesting considerable variation in the way vitamin D is measured and great uncertainty about the specific vitamin D level that determines when treatment with vitamin D would improve health. Furthermore, information is lacking on how to measure and treat vitamin D deficiency in specific subpopulations, such as men, nonwhite ethnic groups, persons who are obese, and less elderly populations
Patient
Adequate vitamin D3 by synthesis in the skin and from dietary and supplemental sources is essential for bone health throughout life. Rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults are the classic but extreme manifestations of severe vitamin D deficiency.
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