why do doctors order more vitamin d tests than anything?

Nurses General Nursing

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I notice that doctors order more vitamin d tests than just about anything. anyone know why?

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

Am I incorrect in my thinking that this "Vitamin D Craze" is based on the work of a single doctor in California? I'm certain that Vitamin D performs vital functions, many of which we may not even know about, but I am not convinced that Vitamin D supplementation is the panacea that some tout.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

There has also been a link made between Vitamin D levels and certain kinds of Lymphomas. Patients with normal serum Vitamin D levels have been found to have a higher survival rate than those with low levels. There are some studies in the works looking at all Lymphomas and I believe some solid tumors. In Multiple Myelomas and Sarcoidosis Vitamin D levels are often found to be abnormally high which can lead to liver calcifications. These are fairly new findings so I think the doctors are just getting on board. If you google it there is some really fascinating information about low levels and various kinds of illnesses.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

AH, well here in the rainy PAC NW (Washington State), where people rust instead of tan, it makes perfect sense. I personally was shockingly low when my wise Family Pract tested me. See, w/o vit D I can take Ca++ til the cows come home, but still have damaging osteo changes. Also Vit D is a key component in mood maintenance according to some studies. Having low levels decimates immunity and the ability to ward off cancer. You can't live w/o it; it's not found in many foods beyond dairy and unless you live in a very sunny locale, chances are, you are deficient.

THAT is why dr's are ordering vit d panels increasingly. Because it's needed!!!!!

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.

I follow Dr. Mercola's site (don't buy his products, but I recognize that he really knows his stuff). Here is some good information about Vitamin D and its health benefits and dangers of deficiency. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/12/Vitamin-D--The-Master-Key-to-Optimal-Health.aspx

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because the docs got caught "with their pants down" so to speak......the campaign for sunscreen and low fat dairy has dramatically cut into our vitamin d intake, resulting in a very large number of vit d def persons...if you are going to supplement, d3 is the better, d2 is the one that pharmacies will supply and ins pay for but is of lesser effectiveness....

milk is fortified with vitamin d--there is as much vitamin d in skim milk as there is in whole milk. high fat dairy products are implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity. there are some studies out there that argue increased benefits with high fat vs low fat milk, but currently the general medical consensus is low fat has greater health benefits.

as far as the "campaign for sunscreen" you mentioned--sunscreen protects skin from uv rays which are linked to many types of skin cancer, including melanoma. so, this is a good campaign--not a "caught with their pants down" campaign. i'm posting a couple of links for you on this.

http://www.skincancer.org/

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http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/

there has been a recent outcrop of research linking inadequate vitamin d levels with many diseases including cancer, depression, chronic pain, asthma, heart disease, etc. calcitriol, the active form of vitamin d in the body, is involved in maintaining the immune system. because the evidence is building relating vitamin d deficiency to the development of many chronic diseases, it is becoming more and more common for primary care providers to perform routine vitamin d screenings. there's a lot of info out there about vitamin d--the sites i'm posting below contain many links to current research.

http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/research.shtml

as far as the difference between d2/d3--there is research saying that d3 is better, and there is research that shows no difference. as far as cost and availability goes--my local pharmacy provides both over the counter, and the cost is comparable. i don't know why 50,000 iu of ergocalciferol is so commonly prescribed in major deficiency. didn't find anything online supporting this regimen as opposed to using cholecalciferol. but i didn't search that hard.

this is a pretty hot topic in healthcare right now. thanks for making the observation and sharing it op!

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milk is fortified with vitamin d--there is as much vitamin d in skim milk as there is in whole milk. high fat dairy products are implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity. there are some studies out there that argue increased benefits with high fat vs low fat milk, but currently the general medical consensus is low fat has greater health benefits.

as far as the "campaign for sunscreen" you mentioned--sunscreen protects skin from uv rays which are linked to many types of skin cancer, including melanoma. so, this is a good campaign--not a "caught with their pants down" campaign. i'm posting a couple of links for you on this.

http://www.skincancer.org/

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/

there has been a recent outcrop of research linking inadequate vitamin d levels with many diseases including cancer, depression, chronic pain, asthma, heart disease, etc. calcitriol, the active form of vitamin d in the body, is involved in maintaining the immune system. because the evidence is building relating vitamin d deficiency to the development of many chronic diseases, it is becoming more and more common for primary care providers to perform routine vitamin d screenings. there's a lot of info out there about vitamin d--the sites i'm posting below contain many links to current research.

http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/research.shtml

as far as the difference between d2/d3--there is research saying that d3 is better, and there is research that shows no difference. as far as cost and availability goes--my local pharmacy provides both over the counter, and the cost is comparable. i don't know why 50,000 iu of ergocalciferol is so commonly prescribed in major deficiency. didn't find anything online supporting this regimen as opposed to using cholecalciferol. but i didn't search that hard.

this is a pretty hot topic in healthcare right now. thanks for making the observation and sharing it op!

just because it is added to skim, doesnt mean it is available....it is a fat soluble substance....and yes it is a "caught with their pants down" moment because they took away a major normal/natural source of vit d and didnt see that it was replaced/addressed. and cancer prevention is debatable....and the amount of sun required for vitamin d production is no where near that required to produce skin cancer!

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just because it is added to skim, doesnt mean it is available....it is a FAT soluble substance....and yes it is a "caught with their pants down" moment because they took away a major normal/natural source of Vit D and didnt see that it was replaced/addressed. And cancer prevention is debatable....and the amount of sun required for vitamin D production is no where near that required to produce skin cancer!

Please support all of this with evidence. Including milk being a "natural" source of vitamin D.

There was no "caught with their pants down" moment here. Seriously.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12791627 This is a study that shows no clinical difference between vitamin D metabolism in various fortified beverages.

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Please support all of this with evidence. Including milk being a "natural" source of vitamin D.

There was no "caught with their pants down" moment here. Seriously.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12791627 This is a study that shows no clinical difference between vitamin D metabolism in various fortified beverages.

you are seriously miss reading my post, milk is not that to which i referred....sunlight is.....and yes, if you are going to take that away, you should think about the consequences.

Milk, actually, is NOT a "natural" source of anything for an adult of any species.

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Specializes in Acute post op ortho.

The factors that affect UV radiation exposure and research to date on the amount of sun exposure needed to maintain adequate vitamin D levels make it difficult to provide general guidelines.

Most people meet their vitamin D needs through exposure to sunlight. Ultraviolet (UV) B radiation with a wavelength of 290-315 nanometers penetrates uncovered skin and converts cutaneous 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3, which in turn becomes vitamin D3.

Season, geographic latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, skin melanin content, and sunscreen are among the factors that affect UV radiation exposure and vitamin D synthesis. The UV energy above 42 degrees north latitude (a line approximately between the northern border of California and Boston) is insufficient for cutaneous vitamin D synthesis from November through February; in far northern latitudes, this reduced intensity lasts for up to 6 months. In the United States, latitudes below 34 degrees north (a line between Los Angeles and Columbia, South Carolina) allow for cutaneous production of vitamin D throughout the year.

Complete cloud cover reduces UV energy by 50%; shade (including that produced by severe pollution) reduces it by 60%. UVB radiation does not penetrate glass, so exposure to sunshine indoors through a window does not produce vitamin D. Sunscreens with a sun protection factor of 8 or more appear to block vitamin D-producing UV rays, although in practice people generally do not apply sufficient amounts, cover all sun-exposed skin, or reapply sunscreen regularly. Skin likely synthesizes some vitamin D even when it is protected by sunscreen as typically applied.

It has been suggested by some vitamin D researchers, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis and that the moderate use of commercial tanning beds that emit 2%-6% UVB radiation is also effective.

Individuals with limited sun exposure need to include good sources of vitamin D in their diet or take a supplement.

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
you are seriously miss reading my post, milk is not that to which i referred....sunlight is.....and yes, if you are going to take that away, you should think about the consequences.

Milk, actually, is NOT a "natural" source of anything for an adult of any species.

I don't know - milk is from a cow (or goat, or human, or whatever); all are natural, organic "substances" for lack of a better word. Which makes milk a natural substance. It is not artificial. And it is a source of calcium, among other things, so yes, it is a natural source. I get what you are saying - that it is not a necessary source of any of its components for any adult of any species, I'm assuming.

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I'm not a nurse (yet...fingers crossed for someday) but I do work in a pharmacy. We have a great number of people that are prescribed 50,000 units of Vitamin D once weekly. This is most female patients too. Is there a reason it would effect women more?

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Specializes in med/surg and Tele.

i dont know if this is true or not but i also heard that having too much vit D can cause you to have cardiac problems.

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