Type 2 Diabetes - Vitamin D Levels During Pregnancy!

For reasons that are not yet fully understood, people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes frequently have low levels of vitamin D. Mothers with diabetes are also at a high risk for complications of pregnancy. Researchers at the University of Montreal in Canada looked at studies of vitamin D in pregnancy and pooled their results to determine whether a vitamin D deficiency could be associated with complications of pregnancy.

Their study, reported on in the Journal of Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine in January 2013, included 24 earlier studies. It was found mothers with low vitamin D levels had high risks for several complications...

• their risk of pre-eclampsia was more than twice that of women with normal vitamin D levels.
• their risk of developing Gestational diabetes was 38 percent higher.
• their risk of delivering a premature infant was 58 percent higher and their risk of delivering a baby small for its age was 52 percent greater.

Pre-eclampsia is a condition in which pregnant women develop swollen lower legs and high blood pressure, along with protein in their urine. If untreated, the condition can progress to seizures. Women with a history of pre-eclampsia are at risk for developing high blood pressure.

Gestational diabetes is like Type 2 diabetes, but develops during pregnancy. Women who have the condition are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes after pregnancy. Their babies can be born overweight or premature. Prematurity is associated with a host of problems, including difficulty breathing, difficulty maintaining warm body temperature, and heart problems. Infants born small for gestational age can suffer neurological and other birth defects.

Vitamin D is involved in bone growth and maintenance, and a severe deficiency used to result in rickets, a condition rarely seen today. We are now learning the more subtle consequences of slight deficiencies. The normal blood range for the vitamin is considered to be from 30 to 74ng/ml. Most doctors who treat a vitamin D deficiency generally aim for 50ng/ml as their goal.

Most obstetricians prescribe prenatal vitamin supplements for their patients. Your skin makes vitamin D when you are exposed to the sun. Go for a walk outdoors in the sunshine several times a week and leave off the sunscreen for a few minutes. When sunshine hits your skin the cholesterol in your skin is converted into vitamin D.

Vitamin D and other vitamins are also part of a healthful diet. Mushrooms exposed to ultraviolet light make vitamin D just as your skin does. Soy products and orange juice are often fortified with vitamin D, so take a moment to read the labels and find those that have been fortified. Legumes contain a small amount, but not enough to be considered significant.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can take control of the disease... recover your health and prevent many of the complications associated with it.

For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body.

The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

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