Emerging science indicates that inadequate seum level of vitamin D is a risk factor for many types of cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, influenza, osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, MS, ALS, parkinson's ........ Vitamin D affects every cell in the body- the only other thing that does that is thyroid hormone. More and more data is accumulating that indicates the optimum serum level of vitamin D is much higher that previously thought. At present, it appears that the optimum serum level of vitamin D is 125 nmol/L. Many of the benfits of vitamin D are not realized if serum levels are below that level. At present, this data applies only to humans. Very little attention has been paid to serum vitamin D levels in animals. It is difficult to imagine that vitamin D would be so important for humans and not for animals. Therefore, we recommend testing serum vitamin D levels in pets and supplementing if necessary to achieve serum levels above 125nmol/L ( Michigan State University Diagnostic Lab's normal value for vitamin D in the dog is 60-215 nmol/L).
John B. Smith, DVM ♦ "The Dog Doctor" ♦ 734-213-7447 ♦1954 S. Industrial Ann Arbor, Mi 48104