September 2007: The importance of vitamin D

[Stefan Johansson]

Leading articles - September 2007

The Leading articles for September 2007 is about the importance of vitamin D during pregnancy and vitamin D deficiency in mothers and infants.

The articles are published in collaboration with the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood (http://www.99nicu.org/exhibition/page1/page1.html).

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Archives of Disease in Childhood.

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PERSPECTIVES
Mother-child vitamin D deficiency: an international perspective (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/737)
Adekunle Dawodu, Carol L Wagner
Center for Global Child Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

Vitamin D in pregnancy: an old problem still to be solved? (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/740)
A F Williams
Department of Child Health, Division of Clinical Developmental Sciences, St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK

ORIGINAL ARTICLES
High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in newborn infants of high-risk mothers (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/750)
S H Dijkstra, A van Beek, J W Janssen, L H M de Vleeschouwer, W A Huysman, E L T van den Akker
Sint Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Erasmus MC, Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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You may comment the article directly below or discuss brain imaging in the forum Nutrition (http://www.99nicu.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24).

[charris]

Thanks Nicu.org for highlighting these articles. We are just in the process of setting up a small study to find out if sending moms and babies home with either a - teaching pamphlet or - pamphlet plus short video presentation - or pamphlet plus video plus sample bottle of Vit D - will increase the compliance with giving Vit. D to breastfed infants. We hope to get started Oct/Nov this year.

***Does anyone have pictures of children with rickets that we could use in the video presentation? ie - free access images, not licensed.

Thanks,
Connie Harris, perinatal clinical pharm.- Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
ps - thanks for the mouse pad!
(connie.harris@viha.ca)

[dort]

Leading articles - September 2007

The Leading articles for September 2007 is about the importance of vitamin D during pregnancy and vitamin D deficiency in mothers and infants.

The articles are published in collaboration with the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood (http://www.99nicu.org/exhibition/page1/page1.html).

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Archives of Disease in Childhood.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PERSPECTIVES
Mother-child vitamin D deficiency: an international perspective (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/737)
Adekunle Dawodu, Carol L Wagner
Center for Global Child Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

Vitamin D in pregnancy: an old problem still to be solved? (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/740)
A F Williams
Department of Child Health, Division of Clinical Developmental Sciences, St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK

ORIGINAL ARTICLES
High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in newborn infants of high-risk mothers (http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/92/9/750)
S H Dijkstra, A van Beek, J W Janssen, L H M de Vleeschouwer, W A Huysman, E L T van den Akker
Sint Franciscus Gasthuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Erasmus MC, Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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You may comment the article directly below or discuss brain imaging in the forum Nutrition (http://www.99nicu.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24).

My colleagues and me have published an article on the importance of vitamin D in mothers for their newborns ("Dort J, Bayer M, Dortova E, Hadravova V.: Vitamin D and other parameters of calcium and phosphate metabolism in healthy term newborns after birth") this year.
Levels of vitamin D in healthy term newborns in the Czech Republic have not been examined yet. The vitamin D saturation in newborns depends mainly on maternal saturation during gravidity that may be decreased due to nutritional habits and climatic conditions in the Middle Europe.
We conducted a prospective study in spring period (from April to June 2006) in a cohort of 28 healthy term caucasian newborns with normal birth weight (limits 3000-4000g). We found that term newborns in the Czech Republic are born with an insufficient supply of vitamin D in the spring period. The significant correlation of 25/OH/D level with bone formation marker osteocalcin and the tendency to higher PTH concentrations in newborns with lower 25/OH/D levels support the premise of an adverse effect of low vitamin D supply on long-term bone development.
Jiri Dort, Dept. Neonatology, Charles University Hospital, Pilsen, Czech Republic