KARACHI, Nov 14: Ninety per cent of women and their newborns were found to be suffering from vitamin D deficiency in a recent research conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). It is important to mention here that international studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to a number of diseases that include diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac problems, depression, multiple sclerosis and. It can also affect a person's reproductive system.

The research was conducted at the DUHS department of obstetrics and gynecology in collaboration with the Yale University's School of Medicine, United States, this April.

It was funded by DUHS and all tests were conducted at the Dow diagnostic and research reference lab.

According to its findings, maternal levels of vitamin D strongly co-related with the levels of vitamin D in newborns. The proportion of severe deficiency in newborns was higher for female babies (46 per cent versus 24 per cent), although this difference was not statistically significant.

Low levels of vitamin D were found to be associated with maternal hypertension in pregnancy, preterm labour and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Of the 75 women and newborns studied, 45 per cent women and 33 per cent newborns were found to be suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency. Only 11 per cent women and the same percentage of newborns were found to have normal levels of vitamin D.

Speaking to Dawn , Dr Nazli Hossain, the principal investigator from the DUHS, said, “In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in carrying out research that could help determine the role of vitamin D in human body. Vitamin D is a hot subject among scientists in the world today. And this is the first large-scale research in Pakistan on the subject which has been accepted for publication abroad,” she said.

The role of vitamin D, she said, was crucial for maternal health, fetal skeletal growth and optimal maternal and fetal outcomes. Adverse health outcomes such as pre-eclampsia, low birth weight, neonatal hypocalcemia, poor postnatal growth, bone fragility and increased incidence of autoimmune diseases had been linked to low vitamin D levels during pregnancy and infancy.

The deficiency was also known to be associated with rickets in children, she said.

“Studies have shown that supplementation with vitamin D during antenatal period decreases the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Hypertension during pregnancy is an important cause of maternal mortality. Hence, the message is that we need to carry out more research and provide local guidelines for both pregnant and non-pregnant women for vitamin D levels,” she said.

Commenting on the correlation of maternal-newborn levels of vitamin D, she said that similar pattern had been observed in cases of Hepatitis C as a female baby may be affected more as compared to a male baby.

In reply to a question on the risk factors and the sources of vitamin D, she said: “Sunshine is the best source to get vitamin D. A 10-minute sun exposure is enough to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D in the body. Sedentary lifestyle, advanced age, poor diet, mal-absorption syndromes, kidney and liver disease and obesity are among factors that contributed to lower levels of vitamin D.”

She advised women who had experienced menopause to do brisk walking 45 minutes daily five times a week to make their bones strong. The rate of bone loss expedited after menopause as estrogen levels fell, consequently affecting the body's ability to absorb calcium, she said.

The second phase of study that focuses on the role of vitamin D replacement during the antenatal period in preventing adverse pregnancy outcome is in progress. Dr Lubna Pal is the co-principal investigator from the Yale University.