Diabetes linked to vitamin D deficiency
Experts say all pregnant women should be tested for vitamin D deficiency after a new study found low levels are strongly linked to gestational diabetes.
The study of 147 pregnant woman at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital gestational diabetes clinic found 41 per cent were vitamin D deficient.
The team said low levels of vitamin D in pregnant women was a concern. regardless of whether they were diabetic, and recommended testing of all mothers-to-be.
Researcher Jenny Gunton said low vitamin D levels were already linked to weakened bones in children.
”Vitamin D insufficiency has a well-established impact on bone density, neonatal vitamin D and calcium status, and childhood rickets soft or weak bones,” Dr Gunton said.
The study had also thrown light on a correlation between women with low levels of vitamin D and those with gestational diabetes.
”The 41 per cent prevalence of inadequate [vitamin D] levels in women with [gestational diabetes mellitus] in our study is unacceptable and identifies vitamin D insufficiency as an issue of public health significance,” Dr Gunton said.
Vitamin D is produced by the skin when exposed to the ultraviolet light in sunlight and some researchers say the slip, slop, slap culture of covering up against sunlight under all circumstances may be leading to deficiencies. Other naturally occurring sources of the vitamin include eggs, fish and meat.
Kristy Nightingale, of Weston, pregnant with her second child, was aware of the concerns relating to vitamin D and weakened bones, but said she was more worried about the effects of the sun on her 20-month-old first child than on herself.
”I’m more worried about my daughter, it’s too late for me,” she said. ”[However], I’m still very conscious of the sun, I have a hat on and sunscreen.”
The Westmead Hospital study recommended further research be undertaken into the potential link between vitamin D deficiency and diabetes.
The call was backed by the University of Melbourne’s Professor Peter Ebeling who suggested adding high-dose vitamin D supplements to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme would increase its availability.
”Those pregnant and breastfeeding women that are most at risk of vitamin D deficiency are often the least likely to be able to afford supplements,” Professor Ebeling said. The research is published in the Medical Journal of Australia today.
