Informed Parenting guest Blog by Emma Kwasnica back in July 2010 on Vitamin D: More information about Pregnancy & Breastfeeding and a few days earlier post on Vit D and Pregnancy & Breastfeeding generate a lot of interest from readers. Emma sent me this article last night as a follow up, and here I am typing away at 7am to get the information out to you!!
Low vitamin D in newborns linked to schizophrenia
The cause of schizophrenia has long baffled doctors, but a tantalizing clue has emerged that some cases of the debilitating mental disorder are linked to having too little vitaminMartin MittelstaedtFrom Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Sep. 09, 2010D during fetal development and early in life.
Researchers studying schizophrenia cases in Denmark have discovered that newborns with the lowest level of the sunshine vitamin in their blood at birth had about twice the risk of developing the disease when they became adults, compared to those with moderate amounts.
The finding suggests it may be possible to reduce the incidence of the illness by having babies and pregnant women either take the vitamin, or increase their exposure to sunshine, the natural way of making the nutrient.
....one previously identified risk factor has hinted at an insufficiency of vitamin D: the time of year a child is born. Children with winter births, when mothers’ vitamin D levels are typically low because of the lack of exposure to strong sunlight, have about a 10-per-cent higher risk of schizophrenia than those born at other times of the year. Fetuses depend entirely on their mothers for the nutrient.
HERE to read the entire article on the Globe & Mail Web site
