Integrative health check reveals suboptimal levels in a number of vital biomarkers

Link to article What is already known about the topic? 􏰀 Health checks are becoming more available in the community, with the intention of disease detection and prevention in asymptomatic people. 􏰀 Sub-optimal levels of vitamins and minerals can lead to long term health problems. What this paper adds? 􏰀 Sub-optimal levels in vitamin D, vitamin B12, sub-standard levels in iodine, and excessive homocysteine, were evident in a large portion of asymptomatic participants. 􏰀 Sub-optimal levels in vital biomarkers are associated with a number of preventable diseases such as dementia, hypertension, cancer and thyroid disease. 􏰀 Our article highlights the importance to screen for biomarkers prone to deficiencies in Australia. ABSTRACT Background: Health checks are becoming more available in the community, with the intention of disease detection and prevention in asymptomatic people. This article summarises findings in an Australian adult sample from a health check conducted at the National Institute of Integrative Medicine (NIIM). There has been controversy regarding reference ranges and what constitutes optimal and standard reference ranges. Biomarkers were compared with standard reference ranges, and with optimal health reference ranges. Methods and results: A total of 139 participants voluntarily undertook the NIIM Health Check across a 4 year period. Participants underwent a full day of medical examinations, including liver and kidney function, thyroid, full blood count, glucose, vitamin and mineral tests. Suboptimal values were evident in a large portion of participants in vitamin D, vitamin B12, homocysteine, and iodine levels. Variables such as age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and season were important covariates. Conclusion: The sub-optimal levels in vitamin D, vitamin B12, sub-standard levels in iodine, and excessive homocysteine, were consistent with previous population studies and are associated with a number of preventable diseases such as dementia, hypertension, cancer and thyroid disease. Our analysis highlights the importance to screen for biomarkers prone to deficiencies in Australia. ß 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).