The constellation of vitamin D, the acute-phase response, and infl ammation

Abstract

In 2016, laboratory tests to detect vitamin D defi ciency were ordered more than 10 million times for Medicare patients, up 547% since 2007, at a cost of $365 million.1 In 2017, sales of vitamin D supplements totaled $936 million, a 9-fold increase over the previous decade,1 and expected to rise to $1.3 billion by 2025, for an annual growth rate of 5.8% from 2020 to 2025.2 This astronomic increase in vitamin D testing and supplementation is happening in the absence of any real evidence-based rationale.