Dark skin pregnancies and Vitamin D - many studies

Summary

FACT: Avoiding the sun reduces your vitamin D intake

FACT: Can avoid the sun by use of sunscreen, not going outdoors, etc.

FACT: African Americans have very low levels of vitamin D (natural sun screen)

FACT: There is an increased need for vitamin D during pregnancy and breast feeding

– Vitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency is Common during Pregnancy – Jan 2011

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Statistics for African-American vs white births in the US:

• 2X more likely to be premature

• 2X more likely for infant to die in first year – African-American medical risks has chart

• 4X higher maternal mortality rate

• 1.25X more cesarean delivery

• Suspect statistics worse if

  • live far from equator
  • have darker skin – Vitamin D blood levels vary with estimated amount of African Ancestry – Sept 2010
  • Obese
  •    Fat captures vitamin D – leaving less in the bloodstream
  •    Overweight sunbathe less - 2009
  • Wear clothing which restricts access to sun (Burka, etc)

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VitaminDWiki – Overview Dark Skin and Vitamin D contains:

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VitaminDWiki - studies in both categories Dark Skin and Pregnancies

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VitaminDWiki - studies in both categories Dark Skin and Hypertension

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VitaminDWiki – Hypertension category contains:

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Chart shows that blacks are almost 4X more likely to have less than 20ng of vitamin D

Left curve = blacks indoors (15 ng) /// Right curve = blacks outdoors (46ng)

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On the web

• Vitamin D deficiency among pregnant minority women in Europe Vitamin D Council Aug 2016
  • Nice review with references for UK, Norway, Netherlands, and Sweden
• Black Women Disproportionately Suffer Complications of Pregnancy and Childbirth. Let’s Talk About It ProPublica Dec 2017, "Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die than white mothers. "
  • Maternal Complications: Postpartum Hemorrhage - vitamin D,
  • Fibroids - Vitamin D
  • Preeclampsia - vitamin D Risk of preeclampsia might be cut in half if take an amount of Vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2017
  • Uterine Rupture - vitamin D
  • Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection,
  • Peripartum Cardiomyopathy - Vitamin D
• Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis NYT April 2018
  • Long article, Vitamin D not mentioned   📄 Download theNYT PDF from VitaminDWiki

• NYT Oct 15, 2011: Tackling Infant Mortality Rates Among Blacks

  • Black infant mortality is 2X that of whites in the US, and 5X that of whites in PITTSBURGH

  • It is a big mystery. Vitamin D is not mentioned. It has the following graphic

• Maternal mortality - Exceptionally deadly Economist July 2015
  • Increase death rate suspected due to obesity, lack of access to medical care, higher rates of unexpected pregnancies
  • Yet they note that the descrepancy of maternal death rates was 2X 100 years ago and is now 4X
  • No mention of decrease in Vitamin D

• Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System CDC
  • 2011-2014 pregnancy-related mortalities per 100,000 live births
  • 3X higher for blacks (12.4 deaths for whites, 40.0 deaths for blacks)

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