When compared to moms who had adequate levels of vitamin D during pregnancy, maternal vitamin D insufficiency was associated with a 44 percent greater risk of ASD in the offspring.
Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland and Columbia University in New York collaborated on the project.
A Mother’s Vitamin D Insufficiency Has Been Related To Autistic Spectrum
Low maternal vitamin D consumption during pregnancy, as well as genetic variables, maternal smoking, parental age at delivery, and obstetric difficulties, can all influence the child’s development of autism.
It is needless to say that for the human body all elements are much important. The health of a child is more decided by the health of its mother and hence women are supposed to have enough nutrition during their pregnancy.
In a study, it is analyzed that Autism is the disease that many mothers offer their children when they are pregnant as they do not have enough Vitamin D in the body during this phase. This may affect the child at an early age also.
When other characteristics such as maternal age, immigration, smoking, psychopathology, substance misuse, the gestational week of blood collection, season of blood collection, and gestational age were taken into account, the findings remained the same.
Professor Andre Sourander o, the study’s first author, says, “The results are crucial for public health because vitamin D deficiency is easily avoidable.”
Vitamin D insufficiency has already been linked to an increased risk of ADHD in offspring, according to the study’s findings. The serum samples were taken before Finland implemented a nationwide prescription for vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy.
For pregnant women, the current guideline is to take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms throughout the year.
“Vitamin D insufficiency is a huge global issue,” says the author. Professor Sourander makes a comment.
The study included 1,558 ASD cases and an equivalent number of matched controls who were born in Finland between January 1987 and December 2004 and were followed until December 2015. The findings were reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Low maternal vitamin D consumption during pregnancy, as well as genetic variables, maternal smoking, parental age at delivery, and obstetric difficulties, can all influence the child’s development of autism.
When other characteristics such as maternal age, immigration, smoking, psychopathology, substance misuse, the gestational week of blood collection, season of blood collection, and gestational age were taken into account, the findings remained the same.
Vitamin D insufficiency has already been linked to an increased risk of ADHD in offspring, according to the study’s findings. The serum samples were taken before Finland implemented a nationwide prescription for vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy.
For pregnant women, the current guideline is to take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms throughout the year.
Vitamin D levels during pregnancy were linked to the development of autism (or a low IQ) in their children later. In general, low vitamin D levels were not linked to an increased risk of autism or a lower IQ in children. Autism risk decreased in males but increased in girls when mothers’ vitamin D levels increased.
With increased vitamin D levels, the risk of autism was reduced in children of non-Hispanic white mothers, but no such link was seen in other race/ethnic groups.
Overall, a non-linear inverted j-shaped pattern with a peak around 100 nmol/L was seen using splines (P = 0.009 for non-linearity); a non-linear pattern was not seen among NHW, females, or ID. Further research is needed to analyze non-linear patterns and potentially vulnerable sub-groups, according to our findings from a large study of ASD and prenatal vitamin D levels.
