10 February 2014
According to a new US study women with low vitamin D levels in the first 26 weeks of their pregnancy may be at risk of developing severe preeclampsia, posing a high health risk to the mother and child.
The observational study analyzed blood vitamin D concentrations of 700 pregnant women who later deve- loped preeclampsia and of 3,000 mothers who did not develop a complication during pregnancy (1). The study results showed that a sufficient vitamin D level was associated with a 40% reduction in risk of severe (but not mild) preeclampsia.
The researchers commented that vitamin D has diverse functions in the body beyond maintaining bone and muscle health, including actions that may be important for maintaining a healthy pregnancy. Further explo- ring the role of vitamin D in reducing the risk of preeclampsia is warranted. Severe and mild preeclampsia are thought to have different root causes. Preeclampsia is a condition characterized by high blood pressure and significant amounts of protein in the urine of a pregnant woman.
28 September 2012
Long-term supplementation with high doses of vitamin A (retinol) and/or beta-carotene are not associated with an elevated risk for bone fracture, suggests a new Australian study.
1 September 2011
Nutritional genomics is a science that studies the relationship between the human genome, nutrition and health. It can be divided into ‘nutrigenomics’, which investigates the effect of nutrients on health through altering gene expression, and ‘nutrigenetics’, analyzing genetic variations (polymor-phisms) among individuals with respect to the interaction between nutrients and disease. It is becoming increasingly evident that the risk for developing degenerative diseases increases with more DNA damage, which in turn is dependent on micronutrient status.
10 November 2009
Daily supplements of multivitamins may decrease the risk of food allergies in younger children, says a new study.
