Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a risk factor for infantile rickets. This deficiency results in neonatal development and poor fetal growth. It can also cause predispose to preeclampsia, preterm birth, and even gestational diabetes mellitus. Typically, low levels of vitamin D are also associated with an increased risk of Asthma in children.
The researchers of Columbia University, New York, and the University of Turku, Finland conducted a collaborative study to investigate how a deficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy increases the risk of ADHD in children.
The risk of ADHD is observed thirty-four percent more in the children whose mothers faced vitamin D deficiency during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. More findings related to this study can be studied in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & adolescent psychiatry.
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The MD Minna Sucksdorff from the University of Turku, Finland finds that vitamin D inadequacy can influence the development of ADHD during pregnancy.
The recent study demonstrates the relationship between the low maternal vitamin D levels from the beginning to mid-pregnancy and high risk for ADHD in the children.
More than ten thousand children are included in the study. These children were diagnosed with ADHD between the years 1998 and 1999 in Finland. But later it was announced that ten micrograms of vitamin D should be given to pregnant women per day. The data was collected before this recommendation.
The vitamin D deficiency issue is becoming more critical because the vitamin D status of the pregnant patients is not monitored and proper guidelines are not suggested to the patients by doctors.
The signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are depression, fatigue, tiredness, hair loss, muscle pain, getting sick, muscle pain, and bone loss.
World Health Organization (WHO) finds that vitamin D plays a vital role in bone metabolism through the calcium and phosphate equilibrium regulation. It is produced by the body from sunlight but can also be got from eggs, oily fish, and fortified food products.
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The primary investigator, Professor Andre Sourander tells that the whole world is still facing the problem of vitamin D deficiency. Even in Finland, the mothers’ vitamin D intake is at an insufficient level.
The pregnant women should be encouraged to take adequate nutrition that can be achieved through the consumption of a healthy balanced diet.
The National Institute of Mental Health NIMH (USA) and the Academy of Finland have raised funds to conduct this study and it is part of the INVEST flagship program of the University of Turku. This new study is done by the researchers of two universities, Columbia University, New York, and the University of Turku, Finland.
The researchers find that deficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy causes a deficiency in children too. The most common chronic disease among children is ADHD. These study results have great significance for public health. The goal of this study is to issue some preventive measures and treatments against ADHD risk in children. This is the largest research project of the researchers who defines the relationship between ADHD in children and mother’s health during pregnancy.
