Description
What Patients Might Benefit from Vitamin D Testing?
There are a number of symptoms and conditions associated with Vitamin D deficiency:
Autoimmune Diseases, Birth Defects, Cardiovascular Disease, Chronic Bone, Muscle, or Joint Pain, Chronic Fatigue, Cognitive Impairment, Depression and Mood Disorders, Diabetes Type I & II, Hypertension, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Low Blood Calcium, Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoporosis/Osteomalacia, Periodontal Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Schizophrenia Stroke.
Why Assess Vitamin D Levels?
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to increased risk for many common and serious diseases, including some common cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Deficiency is also prevalent in infants who are solely breastfed and who do not receive Vitamin D supplementation. Adults of all ages who have darker skin (increased skin melanin) or who always wear sun protection or limit their outdoor activities, such as homebound elderly persons, are also prone to Vitamin D deficits.
Sunlight exposure is a natural source of Vitamin D and has been shown to prevent many chronic diseases. Low levels of Vitamin D are also linked to seasonal depression, particularly during the winter months with less sunlight exposure. Vitamin D can also be obtained through diet and supplementation, although there are few food sources (fatty fish, fish liver oil, and eggs) that contain it naturally. Fortified foods may contain synthetic forms of Vitamin D, which are less potent and have a shorter lifespan in the body.
Biometrix Labs Vitamin D Test is a serum or dried blood spot analysis that quantitates 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 metabolites. The metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the major circulating form of Vitamin D in the body and the best indicator of a patient’s true vitamin status. The major biologic function of Vitamin D is to maintain the normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus involved in bone mineralization. Vitamin D also influences expression of more than 2,000 genes, including those responsible for regulation of cellular proliferation, cell differentiation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. The immune-modulating effects of Vitamin D are profound, as evidenced by the many conditions that are associated with Vitamin D deficiency.
