We live in an age where common sense does not appear to be so common. After the public health disaster of 2020 and the plethora of studies indicating a benefit for vitamin D3 in preventing or at least lowering the risk of COVID 19 severity, you would think that no one would dare argue against its utility. Countless other studies indicate its benefits in various conditions beyond bone health. Mood support, metabolic support, hormonal support and more add to these immune benefits for COVID 19 and other infectious diseases. However, that is apparently not enough for the Endocrine Society of America to simply recommend testing levels.
The June released, August 2024 guidelines, for vitamin D3 testing and dosing offer us a bewildering recommendations that health care providers should not screen low risk individuals for vitamin D3 deficiency. Sure, they agree that high risk individuals on certain meds or with certain diseases, should be checked, but not everyone.
I was left scratching my head on this one as I rarely find a patient in our clinic that is perfect on their vitamin D3 without taking some supplement. Sure, those lucky ones exist out there, but they are maybe 1 in 20. I know that my patient population is sicker than average and that could skew my numbers, but a large percentage comes in lower than 30 which even conventional doctors have to admit is a problem.
If vitamin D3 deficiency is so prevalent and so many studies show that adequate vitamin D3 is critical for multiple metabolic functions, why would such an otherwise prestigious medical organization advise against screening? We are told to screen for so many other things and then advised to medicate for those results like statins with cholesterol.
What is different here? They claim that there is no evidence for treating this deficiency, which indicates they have not read the literature. I hate to accuse and read motives into their guidelines, but it may come down to cost. Insurance companies are having to pay for millions and millions of vitamin D3 tests. First, they pay for the initial screening testing. Then they pay for the repeat test after vitamin D3 is prescribed for 2-3 months.
Meanwhile, no pharmaceutical company stands to profit. Only the supplement industry sells the product.
Yes, I am calling them out on this one. As a functional medicine provider I look at the evidence in order to guide my patients to a healthier, more abundant life. In this case the evidence supports that testing and treating vitamin D3 has many benefits. Hopefully, I won’t be alone in disagreeing with this guideline.
Webpage:
Clinical Practice Guideline: Vitamin D for the Prevention of Disease Guideline Resources. Endocrine Society. Released June 3, 2024. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://www.endocrine.org/clinical-practice-guidelines/vitamin-d-for-prevention-of-disease
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
