"Maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with childhood rickets and longer-term problems including schizophrenia and type I diabetes. Whilst maternal vitamin D insufficiency is common in mothers with highly pigmented skin, little is known about vitamin D status of Caucasian pregnant women," investigators in North Ireland report (see also Women's Health).
"The aim was to investigate vitamin D status in healthy Caucasian pregnant women and a group of age-matched non-pregnant controls living at 54-55 degrees N. In a longitudinal study, plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was assessed in ninety-nine pregnant women at 12, 20 and 35 weeks of gestation, and in thirty-eight non-pregnant women sampled concurrently. Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were lower in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women (P <0.0001). Of the pregnant women, 35, 44 and 16% were classified as vitamin D deficient (25(OH)D < 25 nmol/l), and 96, 96 and 75% were classified as vitamin D insufficient (25(OH)D < 50 nmol/l) at 12, 20 and 35 weeks gestation, respectively. Vitamin D status was higher in pregnant women who reported taking multivitamin supplements at 12 (P <0.0001), 20 (P=0.001) and 35 (P=0.001) weeks gestation than in non-supplement users. Vitamin D insufficiency is evident in pregnant women living at 54-55 degrees N. Women reporting use of vitamin D-containing supplements had higher vitamin D status, however, vitamin D insufficiency was still evident even in the face of supplement use," wrote V.A. Holmes and colleagues, University of Ulster.
The researchers concluded: "Given the potential consequences of hypovitaminosis D on health outcomes, vitamin D supplementation, perhaps at higher doses than currently available, is needed to improve maternal vitamin D nutriture."
Holmes and colleagues published their study in British Journal of Nutrition (Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in pregnant women: a longitudinal study. British Journal of Nutrition, 2009;102(6):876-881).
For additional information, contact M.S. Barnes, University of Ulster, No Ireland Center Food & Health NICHE, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Londonderry, North Ireland.
The publisher of the British Journal of Nutrition can be contacted at: Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh Bldg, Shaftesbury Rd., CB2 8RU Cambridge, England.
Keywords: North Ireland, Women's Health, Alternative Medicine, Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Obstetrics, Pregnancy, Psychiatry, Rickets, Schizophrenia, Therapy, Treatment, Type 1 Diabetes, Vitamin D Deficiency, University of Ulster.
This article was prepared by Mental Health Law Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Mental Health Law Weekly via NewsRx.com.
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