Vitamin D Deficiency

As many of us wellness seekers have known, vitamin D deficiency is rampant in America. Vitamin D is the principle regulator of calcium homeostasis in the body. It is essential for skeletal development and bone mineralization. Osteoporosis is responsible for 1.5 million fractures each year, most notably fractures of the vertebrae, forearms, wrists and hips (these are often crippling and sometimes fatal). According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, one in three women and at least one in twelve men will develop osteoporosis during their lifetime.

I started to notice in myself that my teeth were not as healthy as I would like. I had a few soft spots on my back molars that my dentist kept telling me to brush frequently. I started using liquid vitamin D at 400 units a day through the winter. I noticed that my winter time blues were not as intense. Also in December, I joined a gym and exercising seemed more fruitful and enjoyable. Even long 8 hour shifts of massage seemed easier. When I went back to the dentist two months ago in May, she said that my gums looked a lot better and the soft spots in my molars had closed up. I thought, it has to be the vitamin D. Recently I had my DNA tested and for I showed a genetic decreased ability for my body to use vitamin D.The DNA based "Bone Health assessment" looks for SNPs in several key genes associated with bone density and bone loss and is designed to help predict an individual's susceptibility to osteopenia – a condition that often leads to osteoporosis. The Bone Health assessment is an important predictive tool that can be used as a guide to help determine an individual's genetic propensity for bone density loss, and to help create a therapeutic strategy that minimizes in-born health risks. I also had a spectra-cell blood test done, by the office of Dr. Julie Miller and Dr. Dean Sperow, and I was still vitamin D deficient, even after all of my supplements. Thankfully I was less deficient than I would have been if I hadn't worked on it all winter. My message is that it takes consistent and constant supplementation for some people to get their vitamin D levels up especially if their have genetic risks for vitamin D deficiency. Also supplementation should be monitored by a doctor, and those two tests- the DNA and the Spectra-cell blood metaboolic test really showed me why my levels may have been low for so long.