Lack of hormones causes various deficiencies such as rickets. You cannot easily diagnose its lack without testing for its biomarkers. There are different biomarkers, all of which have atypical actions in the body for which you can test.
Out of the more than 50 known Vitamin D metabolites, only a few have been quantified scientifically. As scientists continue to widen the scope of study in this subject, surprising findings have been documented. Some of them include:
In the general population, these studies are essential, and Vitamin D sampling in individual and population settings allows scientists to estimate its total supply. Since Vitamin D deficiency is a widespread public health concern, sampling allows scientists to recommend the action needed for various population groups. For example, infants, children, specific ethnicities, and women of reproductive age require different active Vitamin D biomarkers.
Consistent patient monitoring is required to fully document the presence of various biomarkers in different individuals. Previously, this required either home doctor visits or having patients visit a clinic.
Remote microsampling is a novel alternative that opens new pathways of care, including monitoring of vitamins. It allows patients to collect blood samples at home so research scientists, doctors and other healthcare professionals can easily monitor their health and wellness.
The application of this smarter healthcare technology allows for unprecedented flexibility in monitoring of patients and study cohorts.
A remote microsampling device like the hemaPEN® offers a convenient and portable approach to sample collection from a single finger-stick with a lancet. The hemaPEN technology combines capillary sampling with dried blood spot (DBS) sampling in one device. Learn how every hemaPEN delivers 4 precise DBS samples to the lab here and learn how to analyze hemaPEN DBS samples once they arrive in the lab, here.