Gates funding Vitamin D studies during pregnancy to improve growth
Update - study did not find a benefit when starting at 17th week
- Vitamin D Supplementation in Pregnancy and Lactation and Infant Growth Aug 2018
- 28,000 IU/week, not start until 17th week, which is too late to be a benefit
Ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby - take Vitamin D before conception
- 10th week is the latest to start with Vitamin D maintenance dose
A Grand Challenge: Can Vitamin D Improve Growth During Pregnancy?
Gates Foundation ==> Impatientoptimists
Overview
Daniel Roth and colleagues at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Canada will test the role of Vitamin D in improving growth during pregnancy.
We’ve known for a long time that Vitamin D is important for bone growth, but we know surprisingly little about its role in fetal growth.
Parathyroid-Vitamin D Axis Dysregulation in Early-Onset Infant Stunting in Resource-Poor Primary
Investigator: Daniel Roth, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - CA
Challenge: Discover New Ways to Achieve Healthy Birth, Growth, and Development
Daniel Roth of the Hospital for Sick Kids in Canada and colleagues will test whether endocrine factors cause stunting in early infancy.
They will analyze parathyroid hyperactivity in a cohort of infants from Bangladesh, where stunting is estimated to affect almost half of all children under the age of 5. To uncover the mechanisms responsible for this hyperactivity, they will conduct a vitamin D supplementation trial and analyze maternal, cord, and infant plasma specimens for evidence of dysregulation of the parathyroid-vitamin D axis. Their goal is to understand the cause of widespread vitamin D deficiency in the region, which is under-appreciated, and its linkage to early growth retardation.
45% of children in Bangladesh are stunted – due to malnutrition and low levels of vitamin D
See also VitaminDWiki
- Infants in Finland who got 2000 IU vitamin D daily grew to normal height – March 2011
- excellent proof that a lot of vitamin D does not harm - the only outcome appears to be a huge decrease in diabetes as the cohort got older
Premature or low birth weight resulted in children 3X more likely to be anxious – May 2011
7X more likely to have low birth weight babies when mother very low on vitamin D – March 2010
Arab pre-term infants often have less than 10 ng of vitamin D - 2010
50% of very low birthweight infants develop osteopenia with rickets before May 2011
Prevention of vitamin D deficiency in mothers and infants worldwide - a paradigm shift. – Feb 2012
- Behind a $48 paywall
Almost all newborns in India have less than 20 ng of vitamin D – Nov 2012
Rickets in 30 % of infants in India who had low vitamin D – March 2011
Severely deficient children had huge benefit from single huge dose of vitamin D – Sept 2012
Infants again found to need more than 400 IU of vitamin D – Sept 2012
Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D which had the following Dec 2012
| IU | Cumulative Benefit | Blood level | Cofactors | Calcium | $*/year |
| 400 | Less Rickets (but not zero with 400 IU) 3X less adolescent Schizophrenia Fewer child seizures |
20-30 ng/ml | Not needed | No effect | $3 |
| 2000 | 2X More likely to get pregnant naturally/IVF 2X Fewer dental problems with pregnancy 8X less diabetes 4X fewer C-sections (>37 ng) 4X less preeclampsia (40 ng vs 10 ng) [tiki-download_file.php?fileId=1541] 2X fewer language problems age 5 |
42 ng/ml | Desirable | < 750 mg | $15 |
| 4000 | 2X fewer pregnancy complications 2X fewer pre-term births |
49 ng/ml | Must have cofactors |
< 750 mg | $75 |
| 6000 | Probable: larger benefits for above items Perhaps prevent 2nd autistic child clinical trials underway Just enough D for breastfed infant |
Must have cofactors |
< 750 mg | $85 |
- If heavily clothed, very little vitamin D – Dec 2012 has the following images
- How often should I take 50000 IU (1.25 mg) of vitamin D
- take a tablet once a month (on average) during pregnancy for a retail cost of less than 1 cent per day
- infant/child can take the tablet (which would be 1/2 the dose that the infants in Finland got)
- see below - fortification would dramatically reduce the cost of vitamin D
Hope that this study will consider vitamin D intervention, and fortification
Clinical Trials for Infant Growth with vitamin D INTERVENTION 79 as of Nov 2014
Probably can fortify foods with vitamin D: such as spices, cooking oil (mustard oil, ground nut oil), ghee (clarfied butter), etc.
- The cost such Vitamin D fortification appears to be 12 cents per person per YEAR (parents and children would all be fortified)
Overview Fortification of Vitamin D
Comment left at the Gates website by VitaminDWiki
Vitamin D has been proven to provide excellent benefits to health of both child and mother.
You can now buy vitamin D in tablets which just cost 1 cent a day which will reduce stunted growth.
There are, for example, 59 clinical trials listed for infant growth after vitamin D INTERVENTION.
Vitamin D fortification of food such as spices would reduce the cost per day to under 1/10 cent
https://www.VitaminDWiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=3540
About $100 more income during woking life for every $1 spent on nutrition to prevent stunting
focus on age 0-2 years, no mention of vitamin D
Every dollar spent on childhood nutrition can save up to $166 Nov 2014
