Saturday, October 17, 2009

New Study: Vitamin D3 Supplementation During Pregnancy Reduces Premature Births And Improves Newborn Health

Vitamin D experts Dr. Bruce Hollis and Dr. Carol Wagner of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, have presented results of a new trial of vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women at at an international research conference in Bruges.

They gave gave group of pregnant women 4,000 IUs per day of vitamin D at about three months of pregnancy. They gave a second group 400 IUs per day, the amount recommended by U.S. and UK governments.

They monitored the blood and urine of trial participants to make sure calcium and vitamin D levels remained within safe ranges. They found no side effects in either group.

They found the following benefits among the women who took 4000 IUs of D3 per day, compared to the controls taking 400 IUs:

1) Risk for premature birth reduced by half.
2) Reduced incidence of small babies.
3) Twenty-five percent reduced risk for infections, particularly respiratory infections such as colds and flu as well as infections of the vagina and the gums.
4) Reduced risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, and preeclampsia.

In addition, babies getting the most vitamin D after birth had a reduced incidence of colds and eczema.

Source: FoodConsumer.org, Vitamin D can save half million babies each year: study

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