You Probably Don’t Need a Vitamin D Test
Vitamin supplement sellers like to say that everyone is deficient in vitamin D, and that means you . This seems like an easy question to answer: just get a blood test and see if your level is low. It turns out that not everything is so simple.
Vitamin D can come from your diet, or your skin can make it if you get enough sunlight . This is critical to the health of your bones, as vitamin D tells your body to absorb calcium from your diet, and people who are deficient in vitamin D are more likely to have certain health problems. So checking for vitamin D deficiency seems like a good idea.
The US Preventive Services Task Force addressed the issue last year and concluded that there was not enough evidence to say whether testing was helpful. Scientists disagree about which level should be considered “low,” and there is no evidence that taking this vitamin supplement will make you healthier. As the New York Times summarized:
There is debate over whether low vitamin levels are a direct cause of illness or simply an indicator of behaviors that contribute to poor health, such as smoking, poor diet, and sedentary lifestyles.
A federal task force has released a draft recommendation [ now finalized here ] based on a review of data from more than a dozen studies evaluating the effects of vitamin D treatment on healthy adults. The studies have used doses of vitamin D3 ranging from 400 to 4,800 international units per day, and have lasted from two months to seven years.
The group concluded that the available data are insufficient to determine a net balance of benefits and harms from screening and early treatment for vitamin D deficiency in generally healthy adults. Dr. Owens said the committee found a number of potential screening problems.
Tests can diagnose people with deficiencies that they don’t really have: African Americans, for example, have low levels of a form of vitamin D that records on the test , leading to false positives, even though they do have a lot of the form their body can take. use.
Instead of widespread screening, the task force recommends a more personalized approach: if you believe you are indeed vitamin deficient, discuss this with your doctor, who may recommend a test but will take it in context with other information about your health.
Vitamin D Screening Without Expert Panel Support | The newspaper “New York Times
Photo by Nita Lind .
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