News
Vitamin D deficiency may increase diabetes risk
15 February 2013
Increased intakes of vitamin D during adolescence could help to reduce the risk of the onset of type 1 diabetes as an adult by half, suggests a new US study.
27 February 2013
A new study from Norway indicates that maternal use of folic acid supplements from four weeks before to eight weeks after the start of pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of autistic disorder in children.
The observational cohort study analyzed the incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) (such as autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS]) among 85,176 children whose mothers used folic acid supplements from four weeks before to eight weeks after the start of pregnancy or mothers who did not supplement (1). Over the course of the study, 270 chil-dren (0.32%) were diagnosed with ASDs. The study results showed that folic acid use was associated with a decreased risk of autistic disorder. Specifically, autistic disorder was present in 0.21% of children whose mothers did not take folic acid compared with only 0.10% of children whose mothers took folic acid, which equated to a risk reduction of 39%. No association was found with Asperger’s syndrome or PDD-NOS.
The researchers commented that the new finding indicates that folic acid may – in addition to preventing neural tube defects – also offer benefits by reducing the odds of autism in children. The observation does not establish a causal relation between folic acid use and autistic disorder but provides a rationale for replicating the analyses in other study samples and further investigating genetic factors and other biological mecha-nisms that may explain the association.
15 February 2013
Increased intakes of vitamin D during adolescence could help to reduce the risk of the onset of type 1 diabetes as an adult by half, suggests a new US study.
7 September 2015
Obese individuals typically present raised levels of the blood vessel-constricting protein endothelin ET 1, which has a range of serious negative effects on their cardiovascular health. A new study has found that normal ET 1 levels can be restored with a three-month daily dose of 500 mg vitamin C.
17 July 2013
Increasing the vitamin D status of girls with low vitamin levels may help to prevent an early onset of puberty, according to new research from South Korea.