Who needs the sunshine vitamin? 🌞
Latest updates on the testing of Vitamin D and its consumption.
Hello, and welcome to Reflections. I'm Sanuj, a physician. I write insightful posts about health, wealth, family and other interesting topics. If you're new here, you can learn more about Reflections in the about page. If you would like to read more, hit the subscribe button below to catch my weekly posts and join a growing list of readers around the globe.
Vitamin D is called the ‘sunshine’ vitamin because our bodies can produce it when our skin is exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. In recent years, vitamin D has garnered significant attention in both the medical community and popular media for its vital role in bone health, immune function, and chronic disease prevention. This has led to an increase in testing and prescribing vitamin D supplements in asymptomatic individuals. This has sparked debate in the medical community about its necessity and cost-effectiveness.
Variability in test results due to differences in assay techniques and laboratory standards can lead to inconsistent and potentially misleading information about a patient's vitamin D status. Therefore, the reliability and standardization of vitamin D testing methods have been questioned. Despite these concerns, the frequency of testing continues to rise, driven by both patient demand and the perception that vitamin D deficiency is widespread.
Testing Vitamin D in asymptomatic young and middle-aged patients followed by its overprescription adds to the burden of healthcare costs with doubtful additional benefits. Large-scale randomized controlled trials have yet to conclusively demonstrate that vitamin D supplementation in asymptomatic individuals leads to significant health improvements or reductions in chronic disease incidence. Even fortified foods and vitamin formulations that contain vitamin D as one of the constituents have not shown any proven benefits in this asymptomatic group.
In view of this, the Endocrine Society has come up with updated guidelines on the testing and prescription of Vitamin D. I share the important aspects here for the general public.
Supplements are suggested for children and adolescents between 1-18 years to prevent nutritional rickets and potentially lower the risk of respiratory tract infections.
For adults between 19 to 74 years of age, routine supplementation and routine testing of Vitamin D in otherwise asymptomatic and healthy individuals are not advised.
For the elderly, 75 years of age and beyond, vitamin D supplements are suggested because of the potential to lower the risk of mortality. However, routine testing in otherwise asymptomatic individuals in this age group is not advised.
Vitamin D supplements are advised during pregnancy due to its potential to lower maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications. However, routine vitamin D testing is not advised during pregnancy.
Routine vitamin D screening is not advised regardless of race or colour.
Even in the case of obesity, routine vitamin D screening is not recommended.
There you have it. The general consensus is to avoid testing vitamin D in otherwise healthy individuals and, instead, supplement only children, pregnant women and the elderly. Other medical, and health benefits in healthy individuals are at most anecdotal if not speculative. Consult your family physician/ endocrinologist to understand whether you need it or not.
If you liked this post, you might be interested in reading other health-related evidence based posts published earlier. You can check them out below.
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