Private MD News

Doctors recommend vitamin D testing

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

With the increasing number of individuals who now lead sedentary lifestyles, many doctors are recommending vitamin D tests for their patients in order to make sure they have adequate levels of the vital nutrient.

The main source of vitamin D is the sun. The skin produces it following exposure to ultraviolet radiation. However, more and more people are living their lives indoors and rarely get any sun exposure.

Victoria Nnadi, a North Carolina-based doctor, told the Winston-Salem Journal that the majority of the patients she treats for chronic diseases also have low levels of the nutrient and that she recommends that they receive a vitamin D test.

"The take-home message is to get the Vitamin D level checked," Nnadi told the news source. "I often will see [Vitamin D deficiency] in people who come in all achy, with low-back pain, arm pain or pain all over."

She added that she has also seen the vitamin show promise in the treatment of diabetes, as it has properties that help cells use insulin more efficiently.

Studies conducted by researchers from the National Institutes of Health have shown that as much as 46 percent of adolescents could be vitamin D deficient.