Vitamin D?

[farmerswifey]

Having just watched BBC Breakfast News, the medical expert suggested that recently more children are being born with bone deficiency due to a lack of vitamin D throughout pregnancy. It also went on to say that 73% of woman didn't know that they were supposed to take vitamin D supplements - I certainly haven't been told at any point that I should and the only thing I've been told to take was Folic Acid for the first 12 weeks.

Does anyone know if I should be taking vitamin D? Are you taking it, and if so how much?

UV- Re your iPhone App, I'm curious. I've been in touch with the Met Office commercial data services dept last year to get realtime UV levels and ground level o-zone levels based on the phones GPS location to help calculate the VitD levels someone can generate and how long they can spend in teh sun before they need to put sunscreen on and didnt really get anywhere hence my curiosity about your app.

Unfortunately the Met Office doesnt have detailed enough realtime data needed to help calculate the UV index levels, and the air pollution monitors similar to the device you see here maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=sawbridgeworth&hl=en&ll=51.817529,0.14883&spn=0.065685,0.180416&safe=off&hnear=Sawbridgeworth,+Hertfordshire,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&sqi=2&t=h&z=13&layer=c&cbll=51.817599,0.148897&panoid=UT9QC7O1M1v4xOrG4KJCoQ&cbp=12,119.59,,1,7.06 are too general to calculate the ground level ozone which can also block out the UV-B wavelength by upto 3times, plus there is also the issue of cost to access what realtime data they could provide so its not really got off the ground becuase it was just too general hence my curiosity about your iphone app.

As I wanted the app to be a global app for iphone and android, what I also found out is that met offices in different countries have a variable level of accurancy with their UV measuring and ground level ozone monitoring making it quite a huge project to make it something worth while and most importantly accurate enough for parents to trust and have confidence in it and have it on their smart phones whether at home in the UK or on holiday abroad like on teh beach.

But if you are working on this app, are you taking into account the GPS location (Long/Lat), Metres above sea level as this affects the UV strength, Date to calculate sun strength (distance between earth and sun), Skin Type, Cloud Cover & Type as different clouds block UV-B & UV-A to varying degrees and Ground Level O-zone? If not imo, the app would be too general and could make you especially in the US subject to litigation.

The original idea for the app was also going to indicate to parents when they needed to (re) apply sunscreen on themselves and their kids in their charge so if going to the beach, park or outdoors for a period of time, they would pop in their kids and their own details once ie skin type plus any other kids they might be looking after for that time,and the factor of the sunscreen in their possesion and then it would raises an alarm to indicate which person(s) need to (re) apply their sunscreen as we all burn at different rates and to avoid burning which can spoil any holiday or day out. To help commoditise it through sponsorship, the GPS location would be used to indicate the nearest source(s) of sunscreen on sale (handy if abroad) to purchase more if they ran out.

Its just a math formulas to me (I'm a computer programmer been programming since the age of 4 and yes parents give your kids a www.RaspberryPi.Org to help make education* more fun as we have a shortage of good programmers in the UK not too mention engineers, scientists & mathmaticians), but is your app taking into account all these factors?

We felt during development meetings with the data available it was too general for our liking so nothing more has been done plus the Met office is no longer funded by the MoD and this year some of the Met office UV data is going to be sponsored by a sunscreen company if the contracts went ahead, hence my curiosity towards your iphone app. :-)

We really looked into all sorts of things for this project, so for example, UV-B doesnt pass through glass or plastic (think conservatory) unless its a special (expensive) kind which in all honesty nobody will have fitted to their conservatory or green house for that matter, we even looked at things like diet for another aspect of the VitD calculator and also looked into seeing if the NHS would help fund some of teh development as it would help improve the nations health with illness prevention which would in turn reduce demand on the NHS and thus lower our taxes but just didnt get anywhere with them.

So if you dont mind saying does your app take into account those variables I have mentioned above?

*Having studied some psychology to help with the Artificial Programming I do, one of the things I have learnt is that kids like things to be interesting and exciting. Now by teaching them to program on something like the Pi they learn maths without realising it and they also learn reading and writing language skills by learning to program in different languages without realising it as well.

The Pi is something that could really capture the imagination of kids and help their education without them knowing it. The Pi is quite powerful (you can make it a Sky HD box) but its simple and intuitive enough for kids to pick up not too mention cheap at £20 (yes £20) and I know they are aiming this at 8yr olds and above; personally given the right parental guidance the younger kids

Just a heads up...Holland and Barrett has got 25ug vit D pills that are similar size to paracetamol capsules (i.e. swallow-able), one a day 100 packs at £7.65, on the 'buy one get one for a penny' sale so 200 pills for £7.66 :)

OP, recounting my experiences in case it helps.

I'm 14 weeks and have been taking Vitamin D since booking in at 8 weeks. In my case, I sort of raised it first. What happened was, I mentioned to her that in very early pregnancy (before positive test) in early Nov, it was freezing cold. I kept wanting to go somewhere tropical and warm my bones in the sun. Which is odd, as I hate hot weather and would get third degree sunburn if I tried that. So I said to her I wondered if it was my body telling me I needed more Vitamin D.

She said it could well be, an increasing number of babies and women suffer with lack of Vitamin D. There's a perception it's worse for black and Asian women, which it is, but she said its also increasingly a problem for white women too. If its summer, there's enough Vitamin D from the sun, but she reckoned everyone who's pregnant through British winter, especially the early stages, should take Vitamin D throughout pregnancy. Basically, everything UV wrote. So I definitely encourage women to discuss with their midwives.

Hi everyone

I've signed a 10 Downing Street e-petition on this very subject. Please would you sign it too and pass it on?

Enough signatures and it can be debated in the House of Commons.

Thank you.

hiho.... xx

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/28536

Details:
Check Vitamin d levels as part of routine blood testing during pregnancy

Responsible department: Department of Health

Vitamin D has been shown as a major player in maternal & foetal health. Linked to numerous vital health issues, vitamin d deficiency is now known to be prevalent. In the last three years an increasing amount of research suggests that some of the damage done by vitamin d deficiency is done in-utero while the foetus is developing. Much of that damage may be permanent, that is it cannot be fully reversed by taking vitamin d after birth. This research indicates vitamin d deficiency during pregnancy endangers the mother's life & health & is the origin for a host of future perils for the child, especially for the child's brain & immune system. Pregnant women undergo a number of routine blood checks. It would be prudent to check vitamin d levels at the same time. This preventative care would empower women with knowledge so they can supplement for their health and that of their unborn baby. We call for ante natal screening to include the simple check of vitamin d levels known as 25 (OH)D.

Vitamin D-3 is a fat-soluble vitamin which can be found in most foods, such as yolk, dairy products, fish-oil, and various home grown vegetables. Because the body may allow it to become upon contact with sunshine, it is usually known as sun vitamin. During the over-all physique operation, cholecalciferol is really important for keeping usual amount of calcium and phosphorus inside the blood stream. It promotes calcium intake through the bone fragments and your teeth, thus selling the bone and teeth's health.

Vitamin D3: Specifics and data

Your skin, right after getting uv light of the sun, releases vitamin d-3. Newly released studies have stated that vitamin d safe guards your body in opposition to a number of constant conditions, just like muscles tissue lack of strength, elevated blood pressure levels, all different kinds of diabetes, despression symptoms, cancer malignancy, weak bones, together with other immunity linked disorders. Utilisation of sunblocks having sunshine safeguard factor of 8 or even more prevents the ultra violet rays, so stopping the production of the vitamin. To know the end results of vitamin d3 deficit on physical health much better, let us take a short peek at certain vitamin d3 info.
www.vitaminddeficiencysite.com/

In the organic and natural kind, vitamin d-3 is without essential part within the fat burning capacity, instead it's a metabolic unit (calcitriol) which usually does the serious capabilities. It can be transformed into calcitriol in 2 basic steps, the 1st in your liver and the other in your filtering organs.

? Calcitriol or bioactive vitamin d3 is often a type of anabolic steroid hormones in charge of focusing on very nearly 10 % body's genes (i.e., just about 2000 family genes) with the whole genomic material in the physical body. Furthermore, it is responsible for the vitamin metabolic processes with the overall body.

? You can find various different kinds of vitamin d3, which often vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and even vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) are most crucial for the body.

? Ergocalciferol is manufactured by the vegetation, in contrast, cholecalciferol is produced in the epidermis immediately after contact with sun light. Supplements might have all of the several different types of vitamin d3, or often the two.

? For individuals who are not consistently subjected to sunshine, a vitamin d-3 dietary supplement of Five thousand units each day is needed, which often accounts to Fifty portions of standard whole milk, or Twelve cups of fortified whole milk, or 12 multi-vitamin capules everyday.

? Just for example sun screens with the standard SPF element, sitting down in a motor vehicle or being inside your house affects cholecalciferol creation. The reason being, a cup will not permit infiltration of Ultra violet rays and access the skin.
vitamin d

I've been taking the recommended 10mcg vit d since conception, read that should be taken on all pregnancy advice blogs/articles

There has been some fab and detailed posts on this already. My day job is as a health visitor, and we advise all pregnant and breastfeeding mums to take 10mcg Vit D a day and we also recommend it for children aged 6mths to 5 years. Not all prenatal multi-vits contain this! Pregnacare, and Superdrug's vitamins do as to the Healthy Start vitamins you can get for free if you are on certain benefits. Some places also sell the Healthy Start vitamins (much cheaper than other pre natal vits!) so may be worth chatting to your midwife about.

My midwife told me to take the Healthy Start vitamins which contain folic acid, vitamins D and C the very first time I saw her. All pregnant women in Fife can get them free. I was handed 2 tubs at my first scan.

You also get similar Healthy Start vitamins for kids up to age 4 I think which contains vitamins A, C and D. Most kids are D deficient these days as covering up and wearing sunscreen limits any Vit D absorption from the sun.

If you search the web, I think you can find out where/how to get them in your area. Some NHS areas in Scotland have a list of places where you can pick them up for free. Not sure about England. Having said that, my friend in Edinburgh who is due in June and as a 3 yr old has never been told anything about vit D! Some areas are definitely better than others at passing on the message.

I supplement my pregnacare plus vitamins with vitamin d3 - 2200 IU which is about 55 mcg I think. Did a lot of the same reading others in the thread have done and realised what was in the pregnacare just wasnt enough. My only concern is that what I am taking isn't enough. It's never been mentioned in my 2 cursory midwife appointments. They didn't even mention folic acid!

There are actually just a handful of food items elements that may contain organic vitamin D. A number of nutritional sources of vitamin D are generally meat liver organ, meaty piece of the fish, egg yolks, fish oil and also dairy products. For that reason, non-meat eaters are in higher risk to experience vitamin D deficit because of reduced food absorption of vitamin D wealthy food. Nursing newborns can get this issue since vitamin D concentrations in real human milk is incredibly poor.

Contact with dangerous ingredients, dangerous chemical compounds, unwanted effects of specific treatments could also bring about this kind of issue that will the amount of vitamin d comes down below the typical levels. Bodily issues for example pigment of the skin tone or perhaps volume of overall body fat may also be in charge of low vitamin D. Darker complexion may also be the trigger of reduced vitamin D amounts inside the system.
Source: www.vitaminddeficiencysymptomsguide.com/

Lower vitamin D concentrations appear in men and women of most ages together with toddlers and even aging adults. There are lots of causes that could help with this condition. Next are a handful of the common reasons associated with low levels of vitamin D throughout the body:

The interior coating of the skin area creates vitamin D employing natural light. If someone doesn't have an adequate amount of contact with the sun, she or he may well produce vitamin D deficit. For example, shortage of natural light in particular regional regions as with the upper hemisphere get the individuals residing presently there at risk of this issue. It is extremely widespread among the seniors as the thinner older epidermis require more time for it to create vitamin D. If they're not open to sunlight for prolonged timeframe, the levels of vitamin D diminishes inside their system. Vitamin D amount with children gets to be minimal as their systems don't acquire sufficient natural light. Anyone who has lupus have got really delicate epidermis and should not stand sun rays for a long period of time. These people experience this sort of insufficiency because they choose to steer clear of sunshine.

Read nore: www.vitaminddeficiencysymptomsguide.com/

For Crohn's illness as well as colitis, an inflammatory process is certainly brought on inside the inside coating of the gut which brings about looseness of. In this particular problem, big amounts of vitamins usually are passed and thus contributes to reducing in values of vitamin D. A number of illnesses offer an undesirable effect on the system's all-natural capacity to produce vitamin D. Lean meats condition or perhaps renal system dysfunction can result in a very similar issue. In a few unusual situations, the vitamin D concentrations lessen since of a few innate ailments just like cystic fibrosis that has an effect on fat assimilation ability of the system.

I had my vitamin D tested ...should be above 50 mine was 42 ..i am on calcichew twice a day and pregnacare...it is very slowly increasing...i spend long walks under the sun as soon as its out...

Great advice on this thread. Just wanted to add, when I had DS I was in the Netherlands, where the weather is similar to here (i.e. crap) and it was drummed into us to give all breast fed babies 10mg of vitamin D from birth till 4 years old. We moved back to the UK when he was 1, and when I tried to buy the drops in Boots and given a very old fashioned look. They don't stock them at all. I've never had a doctor or health visitor or midwife (currently 6 weeks pregnant) mention vitamin D to me either... Even though the NHS know about this problem, the information just isn't getting through.

I'm going to start taking my DS's drops on top of my pregnacare now, just in case...

Just to add in a bit of personal experience, not data as such, pure anecdote - I had my bloods tested last year for Vit D status and was found to be just under the range. Was prescribed a short course of mega dose (10,000 IU) to be taken every 2 weeks to bring my Vit D levels up. After taking 2 doses, I fell pg for the 4th time since having DS - but this time I got a "sticky" and am now 17w pg. The last 3 were all very early MCs - now it could just be my age, rotten eggs etc. - or it could have been related to my low Vit D status. Who knows? All I know is that this time I got lucky and the Vit D might have had something to do with it.

Interestingly, once I got the positive pg test etc. I phoned the pharmacist to ask whether or not it would be safe to continue taking the Vit D at that dose - they didn't know. Insufficient data on taking Vit D in pg to say what dose would be safe. Because it's a fat soluble vitamin, it carries more of a risk than any of the water-soluble vitamins - but because we also make it ourselves with sun exposure (not that I get much of that in Australia) it's too hard to quantify what = safe.
I took one more while I was in the first few weeks of pg, but haven't taken it since - might reconsider that decision now though! (I've been taking Pregnacare most days for the last 5years, so definitely not enough in Pregnacare to keep you within range).

Oliver Gillie, btw, says that you can't make any Vit D between October and February in most of the UK because the intensity of the sun's UVB rays are insufficient. Vit D deficiency is also being linked to Alzheimer's disease, something that is increasing rapidly in Australia's elderly population, possibly because of their fanatical addiction to sunscreen. I very rarely use it here - only when we're going to be outside all day - but DS's preschool have an absolute policy about putting it on every day regardless. I need to find out if there is a similar drop in intensity of the sun's rays over the winter months here; I don't think there is but I need to check.

As Thumbwitch says, the sun in the UK isn't strong enough to give us enough vitamin D for about half the year. And if you use sunscreen, or follow the advice to cover up then you won't get enough in summer either. I'm sure I've also read a report linking low vitamin D levels ( in childhood as well as adulthood) to multiple sclerosis. In Scotland, MS rates are high and in a lot of places here you can't get enough vitamin D from the sun except in height of summer.

www.patient.co.uk/health/Vitamin-D-Deficiency.htm

You can get healthy start multi-vitamins for pregnancy and drops for kids that both contain vit D for free on NHS if you qualify, or if your health board gives them to everyone for free. Presume you can probably buy them otherwise.

www.healthystart.nhs.uk/food-and-health-tips/vitamins/

Among the most generally attainable resources of vitamin D is actually daylight. Whenever sun rays arrive at the skin, generation of vitamin D will begin within the body system. In addition to exposure to the sun, other methods to have vitamin D is certainly crystal clear - food. Many people consider that ingesting food supplies of is not required simply because natural light is definitely accessible and simply 15 -20 minutes of being exposed to the sunshine is enough minimize vitamin D insufficiency. Even so, the present stressful way of life which need unpredictable job timings impart us with almost no time for sun rays direct exposure. No surprise, vitamin D deficiency is typical in the city society. Poor vitamin D amounts might make the bone tissues fragile as well as boost the danger of weakening of bones. Every one of these health conditions may be prevented simply by introducing food resources of vitamin D during the eating habits.
www.thevitaminmag.com/best-sources-of-vitamin-d/

Kind of related, if you suffer from asthma you are 50% more likely to have vitamin D deficiency, my consultant told me this 6 months ago when i was found to be extremely deficient in vit D ( a score below 50 is deficient I was 23). He said they;re not sure if the asthma causes the deficiency or the deficiency contributes to the asthma. I was given 50,000 mg tablets, one a week for 8 weeks. I will also need to be regularly checked. i would recommend that if you are pregnant and have asthma that you ask especially for you vit d level to be checked as this isn't done as a normal check.

Among the most generally attainable resources of vitamin D is actually daylight. Whenever sun rays arrive at the skin, generation of vitamin D will begin within the body system. In addition to exposure to the sun, other methods to have vitamin D is certainly crystal clear - food. Many people consider that ingesting food supplies of vitamin D is not required simply because natural light is definitely accessible and simply 15 -20 minutes of being exposed to the sunshine is enough minimize vitamin D insufficiency. Even so, the present stressful way of life which need unpredictable job timings impart us with almost no time for sun rays direct exposure. No surprise, vitamin D deficiency is typical in the city society. Poor vitamin D amounts might make the bone tissues fragile as well as boost the danger of weakening of bones. Every one of these health conditions may be prevented simply by introducing food resources of vitamin D during the eating habits.
www.thevitaminmag.com/best-sources-of-vitamin-d/

Haven't read through every post so I apologise if this is being repeated.

I am seeing a (great) consultant as I am having twins. From 12 weeks when the twins were seen on ultrasound he told me to continue taking Folic Acid (5mg) per day for the whole pregnancy and he gave me Vitamin D chewable tablets to take for the whole pregnancy too. He said to me it was new(ish) research that women don't absorb much vitamin D from the sun and it is beneficial to the baby for the mother to have additional vitamin D. He said they are training midwives in the area to inform women of this when they have their first ante natal appointments. He said ideally I should have been taking it from when I first found out I was pregnant.

ZOMBIE THREAD