Monday, July 14, 2008

Vitamin D tests soar as deficiency, diseases linked

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

Testing for vitamin D levels, once uncommon, has skyrocketed as medical studies raise awareness about vitamin D deficiencies, according to three of the USA's largest medical diagnostic labs. Physicians agree that they're increasingly using the blood test to find out whether their patients are low on the vital vitamin. Richard Reitz, a medical director with Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., says tests ordered for vitamin D grew by about 80% from May 2007 to May 2008. Burlington, N.C.-based Lab Corp. of America witnessed a 90% leap in D test requests from 2007 to 2008, says Eric Lindblom, the company's senior vice president of investor and media relations. Neither company would release the actual numbers for competitive reasons. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., another of the country's largest diagnostic labs, processed 424,582 tests in 2007, up 74% from 2006. Ravinder Singh, co-director for the endocrine lab at Mayo, expects that the clinic will tally more than 500,000 tests by the end of 2008.

Bonnie - it is part of our routine diagnostic lab suggestions now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

John Cannell and Vitamin D

I have noticed that, thanks to the efforts of Dr John Cannell, many mainstream docs in my area have begun to order Vitamin D tests and supplement when found to be low.

Satellite Maps of the Earth

Satellite maps of the earth showing UV Sunlight exposure correlate with serum Vitamin D levels, and the farther north, the lower the Vitamin D, and the higher the incidence of Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis in our population.

These NASA space satellite photos of North America color coded for UV sun exposure can be seen on Dr. Grant's Vitamin D Web Site. Here, you will see a pattern remarkably similar to the incidence of cancer and multiple sclerosis. This is thought to be due to differences in Vitamin D levels. The farther north with less sun exposure and lower Vitamin D levels, there is an increased incidence of cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Diseases Caused by, or Associated With Vitamin D Deficiency:

Again here is the list: Osteoporosis, Hypertension, Cardiovascular disease, Cancer, Depression, Epilepsy, Type One Diabetes, Insulin resistance, Autoimmune Diseases, Migraine Headache, PolyCystic Ovary Disease (PCOS), Musculoskeletal and bone pain, Psoriasis.

Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in 57% of 290 medical inpatients in Massachusetts, 93% of 150 patients with overt musculoskeletal pain in Minnesota, 48% of patients with Multiple Sclerosis, 50% of patients with lupus and fibromyalgia, 42% of healthy adolescents, 40% of African American Women, and 62 % of the morbidly obese, 83% of 360 patients with low back pain in Saudi Arabia, 73% of Austrian patients with Ankylosisng Spondylitis, 58% of Japanese girls with Graves’s Disease, 40% of Chinese adolescent girls, 40-70% of all Finnish medical patients. (the above is from Dr Cannell newsletter)

Low Vitamin D in Florida?

Surprisingly, we have been seeing low vitamin D levels even here in sunny Florida demonstrated by serum 25-OH Vit D blood testing. These people avoid the sun for fear of skin cancer.

To read a synopsis of Dr John Cannell's excellent work...Vitamin D Deficiency by Jeffrey Dach MD

Jeffrey Dach MD
4700 Sheridan Suite T
Hollywood Fl 33021
954-983-1443
Jeffrey Dach MD
Natural Medicine 101