The Importance of Testing Vitamin D Levels

Dr. Ian D. Bier

Balancing your vitamin D levels is one of the simplest things you can do to lower your risk of many diseases. Deficiency of Vitamin D has been linked to all-cause mortality, meaning someone with low levels of vitamin D is more likely to die no matter what the cause. Many diseases have been shown to be related to Vitamin D levels include Alzheimer’s, asthma, autoimmune disorders, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, and numerous cancers.
What’s a good level of vitamin D? While the normal range on testing at most labs is considered 30-100, most authorities recommend that you want to keep you levels above 50, and probably closer to 90 if there is a history of any of the disorders associated with vitamin D.

However, there is a large genetic polymorphism, a range of different receptors that people have that significantly affects how much vitamin D they need to maintain the proper level in their body. What the latest research is showing is that the only way to really know if you’re getting the proper level of vitamin D is to test your blood, and then if your levels are low, supplement with the proper dosage and test again to see how close to the optimum level you are. The best resource for information about Vitamin D is the Vitamin D Council , a link to their site is available under Patient Resources. on our website.

If you’ve had your vitamin D levels tested, please send a copy to us. If you haven’t you should ask your regular doctor to test it on your next lab work.

For those who prefer, HNNH has managed to get two very reasonably priced test kits for Vitamin D, one that we have to draw blood for at our clinic, the other a kit that you can do a blood spot and send it in from home. Just give us a call to discuss which would be best for you.

Resources about Vitamin D can be found on our website, under Patient Resources.

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