Sunshine provides healthy vitamin D3 to our bodies.

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is critical for good health. Over half of all Americans are deficient. Yet, the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) decided not to recommend the test to everyone.

Decision

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/should-you-get-tested-for-vitamin-d The USPSTF did not recommend, nor did it tell us not to get the test. The organization tells us there is not enough evidence to suggest the benefit of people knowing their vitamin D3 (VD3) level. This makes no sense to me at all.

I always ask my doctor to order a VD3 test, along with others, for my annual physical. With the pandemic, studies show that people with higher levels of VD3 are less likely to become infected, and their symptoms are generally mild to asymptomatic. If for no other reason than to be better prepared during the pandemic, VD3 testing should have been increased.

Ironically, VD3 deficiencies are quickly addressed by supplementation. Severe deficiencies can result in osteoporosis, brittle bones, fractures, and possibly multiple sclerosis. Fatigue, mood swings, and body aches are also common when VD3 levels are extremely low.

The VD3 Test

https://www.healthline.com/health/25-hydroxy-vitamin-d-test. The liver converts vitamin D into 25-hydroxyvitamin d (calcidiol). The 25-OH vitamin D blood test determines the level of calcidiol in your bloodstream. Over the past couple of decades, the level of VD3 deficiency has been changed. For a long time, people were considered deficient when they had 12 ng/mL readings or less.

Potential VD3 deficiency was defined in the range of 12 ng/mL to 20 ng/mL. Normal, back then, was between 20 ng/mL and 50 ng/mL. High levels of VD3 were anything over 50 ng/mL.

Today, according to Life Extension (https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2010/1/startling-findings-about-vitamin-d-levels-in-life-extension-members). anyone with a VD3 level below 30 ng/mL is entering an area where health issue can occur because VD3 levels are not adequate to provide protection. The incidence of disease declines as levels of VD3 increase.

Optimal VD3 levels are over 50 ng/mL. When my wife had cancer, her oncologist wanted her VD3 levels above 80 ng/ml. My last VD3 test was 108 ng/mL. I kept my supplementation of vitamin D higher during the summer because of the pandemic.

Studies indicate that VD3 inhibits the ACE2 receptor to prevent the spike of coronavirus (https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m810/rr-24) infecting us. Most people avoid sunlight, and their VD3 levels are lower because of those choices. People living in higher latitudes also have less access to the sunshine vitamin.

Some foods contain VD3; however, the amount of food to consume to be of benefit is not healthy. Direct exposure to sunlight (without sunblock) or supplementation are ways to raise VD3 safely.

Misclassification???

https://medlineplus.gov/vitaminddeficiency.html. One of the reasons given by the USPSTF is that results of VD3 testing can be misclassified. Doctors do not know how low too low is. I find that to be unsatisfactory. There is more data on VD3 available to doctors today than ever before.

Additional claims are that VD3 testing is variable. Testing is testing. Protocols are established at laboratories so that the results are comparable across the board. Why is this a concern? A doctor can monitor the results and retest them at a different laboratory when in doubt.

The third point of contention with the USPSTF is that potential harm arising from people getting their VD3 tested is that they might supplement too much, more than 10,000 IUs/day, and develop VD3 toxicity. Some multiple sclerosis patients have been taking 50,000 IUs of VD3 daily for years without toxic concerns. It is difficult to get too much VD3. Testing would undoubtedly point out any deficiency or overdose of the vitamin. Why is this a concern, especially when a doctor is supervising their testing?

A fourth factor in the USPSTF not wanting people to get their VD3 tested is that they may be inappropriately treated or not treated. When people are deficient in VD3, they do not know it. Approximately half of all Americans are deficient. So, we do not want them to get tested to find out about any deficiency because they might be inadvertently treated or not treated at all. Tell me how that makes sense. A doctor has a medical and moral responsibility to treat a health problem, not ignore it.

A fifth reason stated by the USPSTF was that people with VD3 levels over 100 ng/mL have a high risk for kidney stones. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23739765/. says that most observational studies do not support a significant association between higher nutritional VD3 and increased risk of stone formation. A VD3 deficiency is highly prevalent among stone formers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241241/. Studies are lacking to support any evidence of higher doses of VD3 and kidney stones.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/news/20131017/study-vitamin-d-supplements-may-not-raise-risk-for-kidney-stones. VD3 does not increase the risk of kidney stones. Age, gender, and weight have a higher effect on the development of kidney stones.

Only two studies have been completed that investigated VD3 and the risk of kidney stones. No association was noted in studies done with Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study I & II.

Conclusion

I am continually amazed at medical professionals who are not up to date on the value of vitamin D3 and what it can do for our health. Additionally, the amount of VD3 to reach normal healthy 50 ng/mL levels cannot be done with food alone. It can be done with time spent in the sun, but the variable of time, latitude, the time of the day, skin color, area of skin exposed, and more are not sufficient to tell everyone to spend 30 minutes a day in the sunshine.

I want to know everything I can about my health. An inexpensive blood test for VD3 is of immense value to me, especially during the COVID vacation we have been on for the past year-plus! When you run across a doctor who does not want to check your levels of VD3, maybe you might want to look for another doctor.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

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