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New Measurement Standard for Vitamin D

BoneLady
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"New Measurement Standard For Vitamin D May Lead To Better Bone Health
ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2009) — In a development that could help improve the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, rickets, and other bone diseases, government chemists are reporting an advance in developing an accurate, reliable set of standards for measuring vitamin D levels in blood. Their findings could affect the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly children, women, and the elderly, who suffer from or are at risk of these debilitating diseases."

Here is the link: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090325132153.htm

Explore topics in this discussion:

Rickets Osteomalacia Osteoporosis Sarcoidosis

2 replies

zeta

Hi BoneLady,

Thanks so much for the link to the article. I read it once, but will be reading it again, and plan to share the link with others too.

zeta

BoneLady

Hi! zeta,

Here's another link on Vitamin D, the best one I have found:

www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/vitamin_d/test.html

It explains that a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test should be ordered when calcium is low or the patient has symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, such as rickets or osteomalacia.

A 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D test is ordered if calcium is high or the patient has a disease that might produce excess amounts of vitamin D, such as sarcoidosis or some forms of lymphoma.

It explains how to interpret vitamin D test results: "This test has no single number that identifies an abnormal result. Your lab report...should include a range of numbers (reference range) that identifies what is expected for you based on your age, sex, and the method used in that laboratory."

"There are differences among Vitamin D methods, making a universal reference range difficult to establish. Total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (D2 + D3) is the correct measure of Vitamin D status. There is currently no consensus on the level which indicates deficiency."

This helps explain the significance of my original post and why the government is trying to develop standards for vitamin D testing of blood.

You can ask questions at labtestsonline and they will be answered by the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists.

BoneLady

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