With winter right around the corner a Vitamin D test becomes essential as the amount of sun we get per day is slowly decreasing. For many people, shorter days bring on a serious case of the “Winter Blues”, where lack of sunshine can cause seasonal depression.
But why does this happen?
The answer is Vitamin D. When you expose your skin to the sun, your body creates vitamin D, which scientists believe is vital in a body’s fight against autoimmune diseases. When winter rolls around, it cuts down on the amount of sun we get each day causing our bodies to produce significantly reduced levels of vitamin D. In fact, scientists estimate that approximately one third of the world’s population suffers from vitamin D deficiency.
A huge problem is that many people simply don’t know how to monitor their vitamin D levels. Thankfully, there are several different ways to test your vitamin D levels, and some are less complicated than you think. Both the medical community and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of a Vitamin D Test, which is why the market is expected to post a CAGR of 32.36 percent for the 2014-2018 period.
A Vitamin D Test is a process of measuring the levels of vitamin D in the blood of a human. There are several different ways to test vitamin D levels, but the two most common methods are Immunoassays and Direct Detection.
Typically, automated immunoassays (EIA, CLIA, ECLIA, and RIA) have a much faster turnaround time than manual immunoassays and direct detection methods (HPLC and LC-MS).
So what is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a naturally occurring fat-soluble biologically inert hormone precursor that exists in two primary forms:
- Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)
- Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
Its main biologic function is to maintain calcium and phosphorus concentrations that are essential for overall bone health. In addition, vitamin D has a number of other physiological roles, including retaining muscle strength, moderating immune function, regulating cellular differentiation and reducing inflammation.
Vitamin D3 can be synthesized in the skin upon exposure to sunlight, and thus sun exposure accounts for 80-90 percent of the vitamin D for most people. Vitamin D can also be obtained from the diet in the form of either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3.
As a result of changes in lifestyle and eating habits, many people are now prone to different diseases. In general, consumers living in cold countries are vitamin D deficient and are hence prone to several vitamin D deficiency-related diseases, in turn increasing the chances of people in these countries undergoing a vitamin D test. Furthermore, aging consumers who suffer from bone and teeth weakening due to a drop in calcium levels would also undergo a vitamin D test.
The vitamin D deficiency in the chronically ill population is associated with several diseases such as cancer, depression, stroke, chronic pain, osteoporosis, diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. This section of the population has to undergo vitamin D testing, thereby increasing the demand for a vitamin D test.
Currently, greater emphasis is being placed on disease prevention, and a Vitamin D test is considered to be a standard part of procedures to prevent several medical conditions. As there has been a significant increase in the expenditure on healthcare services over time, and a Vitamin D test in particular is likely to become more common in the future, this driver is expected to have a strong impact on the market.
That being said, a potential downside to current Vitamin D testing methods is that they are measured in labs, which require complex instruments such as a chromatography or mass spectrometry system. This makes the testing process both time-consuming and expensive.
The good news is that vendors are on the brink of developing new devices that can test vitamin D levels in the body with the help of saliva. If approved, these products would be revolutionary in the Global Vitamin D Testing market, and over-the-counter devices would soon be available, making a Vitamin D Test possible at home. If successful, these new testing methods would have a high impact on the market in the years to come.
For more information, view our 2014-2018 Global Vitamin D Testing Market report.
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