By Jeff Nicklas, Vitamin D Council

As I’m sure most all of our readers and members know, there is a big debate in vitamin D right now. Some researchers think that we need more research before we can raise vitamin D recommendations. Other researchers believe that there is enough research right now to raise vitamin D recommendations. The Vitamin D Council is in the latter camp. We believe that unless research proves otherwise, people need the same vitamin D levels of outdoor-living peoples, which is nearly double the American mean level.

A term information scientists and researchers use for this kind of debate in research is uncertainty. Information scientists would say there is uncertainty in vitamin D research, particularly because we haven’t reached an apex of knowledge about vitamin D. Research in vitamin D is still building.

This uncertainty and debate in vitamin D leads to much confusion in medical literature and in the media. In consequence, this uncertainty trickles down to health care providers and patients, and can cause uncertainty and inconsistency between patients and providers.

Recently, researchers surveyed primary care providers and patients to find out what they knew and thought about vitamin D. They wanted to know how much uncertainty about vitamin D clouted providers and patients. If themes emerged, this could help both educators like the Vitamin D Council and providers to help them better understand their patients.

Researchers recruited seven primary health care providers and 89 community members from different regions throughout Kentucky. The health care providers underwent semi-structured interviews focused on vitamin D. The community members were put into six focus groups where they participated in open-ended discussions.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online. 

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