Vitamin D Screening
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
image by: HWN
HWN Suggests
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…
Featured
Everything you ever wanted to know about vitamin D
Knowing your vitamin D levels might not be as important as you think.
Articles of Interest
Your vitamin D tests and supplements are probably a waste of money
“Unless you really are truly symptomatic,” Rosen summed up, “it might not be worthwhile to measure vitamin D, and tag you with the diagnosis of deficiency, when it’s not clear those levels make you deficient and you’re not at risk for disease.” In other words, beware of the vitamin D test.
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 (USPSTF) concludes that the overall evidence on the benefits of screening for vitamin D deficiency is lacking. Therefore, the balance of benefits and harms of screening for vitamin D deficiency in asymptomatic adults cannot be determined
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 in Adults: Screening
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
