Update Japanese need at least 30 ng of Vitamin D, test costs are now reimbursed – Nov 2016
[Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency:its clinical significance and treatment].
Clin Calcium. 2016 Feb;26(2):251-8. doi: CliCa1602251258.
[Article in Japanese]
Okazaki R, Third Department of Medicine, Teikyo University Chiba Medical Center, Japan.
Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency, a medical condition in which vitamin D store is decreased, is the most frequent cause of decreased action of vitamin D. Severer form vitamin D deficiency can cause hypocalcemia and rickets/osteomalacia. Milder form vitamin D insufficiency also harms bone health via secondary hyperparathyroidism, the increase in fracture risk, and poor responses to anti-osteoporotic medications. Diagnosis can only be made by measuring serum 25(OH)D, which is not currently covered by the Japanese health insurance policy. In Japan, the guideline for the diagnosis vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is in the process of drafting. According to the current provisional guideline draft that was made in public, vitamin D deficiency would be defined by serum 25(OH)D level less than 20 ng/mL whereas vitamin D insufficiency would refer to the state in which serum 25(OH)D level is between 20 and 30 ng/mL.
PMID: 26813505
See also Vitamin D Life
- France restricts payments for Vitamin D tests – Dec 2015
- Vitamin D test costs Obamacare pregnant woman 214 dollars (vs 6 dollars for a bottle) – Oct 2015
- Medicare now pays for just one vitamin D test , but 20 CT scans for smokers – Feb 2015
- No vitamin D test needed before supplementing (typically) – April 2014
- 50,000 IU monthly safe to take without any vitamin D testing – RCT Dec 2013