By Janet Lee | Consumer Reports
A ccording to some reports, we’re in the middle of a “pandemic” of vitamin D deficiency, raising the risk of not just bone fractures but also heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, and more. And worries about these perils have led to an increase in vitamin D screening and supplement use: 31 percent of Americans ages 60 to 69, and 39 percent of those 70 and older, take high-dose (1,000 international units or more) vitamin D pills.
“Having low or deficient levels is not a part of normal aging, but it is very common,” says Audrey Chun, M.D., an associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
