Not so long ago, any mention of Vitamin D deficiency brought to mind malnutrition and images of third-world children with rickets and bone deformities. But now the picture has shifted from the developing world to the developed, where Vitamin D deficiency among those living in northern hemispheres appears to be rising to astronomical proportions -- by some estimates, affecting up to 75% of the population including the elderly, the obese, dark-skinned people, breastfed babies, and just about anyone who doesn't get out in the sun much.
As the alarm sounds in the medical communities of western nations, and one study after another links low Vitamin D to the development of osteoporosis, heart disease, childhood diabetes, breast cancer, peripheral arterial disease, and even, Alzheimer's, the challenge for physicians is how to spot the deficiency in time to prevent the disease.
Since there are no telltale symptoms to clue us in to the fact that we may be seriously low in the sunshine vitamin (so-called because our bodies actually convert sunlight to Vitamin D by activating a hormone in the skin), the average person has no idea whether they are deficient or not. This is where ZRT's Vitamin D blood spot test comes in -- the first of its kind using a simple finger stick and just one or two drops of blood -- to expose a hidden deficiency before it becomes a problem.
The self-sampling test kit makes home collection easy and convenient. Once blood spots have dried (within an hour) on the special filter card included in the kit, the sample can be sent back to ZRT Lab for analysis by regular, pre-paid mail with test results ready 3 to 5 days max. There's nothing to it, except for invaluable information that can be used to correct Vitamin D deficiency, avoid unwanted health problems, and perhaps, even save your life.
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