scholarly journals High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in school children in Jammu: a whistle blower

Author(s):  
Harleen Kaur ◽  
Amarjeet Singh Bhatia

Background: Vitamin D deficiency prevails in epidemic proportions among school going children in India, but there is scarcity of searchable data on vitamin D status in school children in Jammu and Kashmir; hence we have assessed the vitamin D status in school going children attending outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital Jammu.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Biochemistry Government Medical College Jammu during June to December, 2018 and after obtaining informed consent, a total of 104 school going children between the age group of 6 years to 12 years, attending SMGS Hospital Jammu were screened for their vitamin D (25 OH-D) status by using Abbott architect chemiluminescent micro particle immunoassay.Results: Out of a total of 104 school going children screened in the study, 91 (87.5%) were found to be having insufficient vitamin D levels in their blood (<30ngm/dl) whereas 63 (60.5%) children showed severe deficiency with vitamin D levels below 20ngm/dl.Conclusions: Despite of abundant sunshine throughout the year and also with the consideration that people of this region are well off economically and can afford good nutrition, the results of our study revealing  high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in school going children can be taken as a whistle blower for the health policy makers of the region. 

Author(s):  
Harleen Kour ◽  
Shashi Gupta ◽  
Swarn K. Gupta ◽  
Bawa Ram Bhagat ◽  
Gagan Singh

Background: In the recent years there has been an increased understanding of the role that vitamin D plays in regulation of cell growth, calcium absorption and immunity and its impact on the developing fetus and maternal health is of significant concern. This study aims at evaluating the Vitamin D status in pregnant women and their newborns.Methods: A cross sectional study was done on 100 pregnant females according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. At the time of delivery, maternal blood was collected, and newborn samples were taken from newborn side of umbilical cord and sent for analysis.Results: The prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be 85% of pregnant females and 91% of the newborns. Only 5% of pregnant females and 1% of the newborns showed Vitamin D sufficiency. Maternal and newborn vitamin D levels show a positive correlation. Mean maternal and newborn Vitamin D levels were found to be 16.78±7.04 ng/mL and 11.29±5.75 ng/ml.Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among pregnant women in north India. Low maternal vitamin D levels lead to vitamin D deficiency in the newborns also.


Author(s):  
Sapneet Kaur ◽  
Harleen Kaur

Background: Micronutrient deficiency is pandemic proportions among pregnant women in India, but there is scarcity of searchable data on  coexistence vitamin D status  and Vitamin B 12 in pregnant women in Jammu and Kashmir, hence we have assessed the vitamin D as well as Vitamin B12 status in pregnant women attending outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital Jammu.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Biochemistry Government Medical College Jammu during June 2019 to February, 2020 and after obtaining informed consent, a total of 150 pregnant women, attending SMGS Hospital Jammu were screened for their vitamin D (25 OH-D) and vitamin B12 status by using Abbott architect chemiluminescent micro particle immunoassay.Results: A total of 150 pregnant women were  screened in the study , 129 (86%) were found to be having insufficient vitamin D levels in their blood (<30 ngm/dl) and 105 ( 70%)  women showed severe deficiency with vitamin D levels below 20 ngm/dl.108 (72%) pregnant women had vitamin B12 deficiency with levels below 200 pgm/ml.Conclusions: The study revealed a high prevalence of coexistence of Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 deficiency in pregnant women, despite of abundant sunshine throughout the year and also with the consideration that people of this region are well off economically and can afford good nutrition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 867
Author(s):  
Ayyappan Anitha ◽  
Suresh A. Poovathinal ◽  
Vijitha Viswambharan ◽  
Ismail Thanseem ◽  
Mahesh M. Vasu ◽  
...  

Background: Authors examined serum vitamin D status among the healthy school children belonging to the south Indian state of Kerala.Methods: A cross-sectional study, participants were recruited through medical camps organized in Thrissur and Palakkad districts of central Kerala during the months of March and April 2017. A 174 healthy school children (98 males and 76 females) aged 5-13 years were recruited for the study. The children were found to be healthy on the basis of physical examination by a Paediatrician. None of the children had any symptoms of skeletal deformities. All the children were drug-naive. Data on height, weight, skin color, food habits, physical activities and socio-economic status were recorded. A 2ml of peripheral blood samples were collected from the participants. Total vitamin D in the serum was estimated by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA).Results: VDD was observed in 60.92% and insufficiency in 30.46% of the participants. Only 8.62% of the participants had normal vitamin D levels. The mean vitamin D level was 19.93 ng/ml. Males had significantly higher vitamin D levels compared to females. Factors such as age, height, weight, diet, skin color and socio-economic status did not influence vitamin D levels.Conclusions: This is the first study of vitamin D status among the school-age children of Kerala. This paper adds further evidence to the reports indicating high prevalence of subclinical VDD among children across India and calls for action.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. e87-e92
Author(s):  
Chandrika Azad ◽  
Vishal Guglani ◽  
Jasbinder Kaur ◽  
Roosy Aulakh ◽  
Sukhvinder Singh ◽  
...  

AbstractVitamin D deficiency is prevalent all over the world, especially in tropical countries. In epileptics, antiepileptic drugs (AED) and associated comorbidities further impact vitamin D status. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency in epileptic children and evaluate probable risk factors. A cross-sectional study of 200 children between 1 and 18 years of age on AED was undertaken in the pediatric neurology clinic of a tertiary care center of Northern India. In all children, serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels, calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase were estimated. The deficiency levels of vitamin D were categorized as: deficiency <20 ng/mL, insufficiency 20 to 30 ng/mL, and sufficiency >30 ng/mL. The potential risk factors for hypovitaminosis D, including type of epilepsy, AED regimen (specific medications, polytherapy vs. monotherapy), cerebral palsy, ambulatory status, intellectual disability, body mass index, gender, and vegetarianism were examined. Among the 200 enrolled children (60% boys), 106/200 (53%) were vitamin D deficient. There was no significant relation of vitamin D levels with gender, type of epilepsy, neurological deficit, and type of AED. An inverse relationship of higher phenytoin doses during monotherapy associated with lower vitamin D levels in monotherapy was found, thereby suggesting adverse effect of high doses of phenytoin on vitamin D levels. VDD is common among epileptic children on AED therapy. Vitamin D deficiency is common prevalent among epileptic children on AED therapy, and its detection and treatment correction should be an integral part of epilepsy management.


Author(s):  
Mahajan M. ◽  
Hilal A. Sheikh ◽  
Anand Ish ◽  
Batra A. ◽  
Sethi P. K.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is present in India in epidemic proportions despite plenty of sunshine. Reduced plasma 25(OH) D concentrations as a diagnostic marker of vitamin D deficiency have been in past decade associated with several well-established risk factors for ischaemic stroke, such as arterial hypertension, thrombosis, atherosclerosis. The aims and objectives of this study was to compare the serum 25(OH) D levels between the first ever acute stroke patients and healthy controls.Methods: A cross-sectional, case control study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi situated in north India. Serum 25‑hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) levels in 85 patients of ischemic stroke, presenting within 7 days of onset of stroke was measured and was compared with 70 age and gender matched controls.Results: The mean age was 61.02±11.58 years and 58.63±11.28 years in cases and controls respectively. Females constituted 37.6% of the total number of cases and 43.4% of the controls. The age and gender-distribution were comparable between the cases and controls. The median value (IQR) of serum 25(OH) vitamin D level was 7.94 ng/mL (4.59-14.00) in the cases and it was 8.82 ng/mL (5.59-14.70) in the controls. The difference between the serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels of the two groups was not found to be statistically significant.Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of biochemical hypo-vitaminosis D in apparently healthy Indians of all age and sex groups despite adequate sunshine. There is no association between low vitamin D levels and stroke.


Author(s):  
Srinivasalu Santhanagopal ◽  
Matthew Sebastian ◽  
Madan Mohan Muniswamy ◽  
Anoop Pilar

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> There is an alarmingly high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in orthopaedic patients, regardless of whether or not, they require surgical intervention. Vitamin D plays an essential role in bone formation, maintenance, and remodelling, as well as muscle function and deficiency could affect adversely in multiple ways. Many reports recently demonstrated high rates of vitamin D deficiency, in numerous segments of Indian population, but there is no study reported so far from India, which focuses specifically on vitamin D status in orthopaedic patients.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> It is a descriptive study to<strong> </strong>estimate vitamin D levels in patients scheduled to undergo orthopaedic surgery. Vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in 310 patients, who were admitted at our institution, from December 2015 to August 2017 were measured.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of 310 patients included in our study, 189 (61%) were males and 121 (39%) females. Vitamin D deficiency (&lt;20 ng/ml) was present in 232 patients, insufficiency (&lt;30 ng/ml) was present in 63 patients and only 15 patients had desirable levels (&gt;30 ng/ml). Patients younger than 60 years and males had more prevalence of Vitamin D abnormality. 168 (72.4%) of the patients, with deficiency presented in winter, compared to 64 (27.6%) in summer.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Statistically significant vitamin D deficiency was seen during winter months, in patients undergoing hip hemiarthroplasty, and in patients admitted for degenerative disease of the spine, hip and knee. Screening and treating hypovitaminosis D appears to be important in orthopaedic patients as vitamin D deficiency is prevalent across all age groups in the population studied.</p>


Author(s):  
Purva Keni Karnavat ◽  
Anaita Udwadia Hegde ◽  
Fazal Nabi

Background: Pediatric neurology outpatient populations are a vulnerable subgroup for vitamin D deficiency. The aim was to study the incidence of vitamin D deficiency in pediatric neurology patients by studying relevant biochemical profile and to assess the contributory factors for the same.Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care setup in Mumbai between 2011 and 2012. A total of 284 children aged 0.5-18 years, attending pediatric neurology OPD were enrolled. Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS version 17.0 and included descriptive statistics; Chi squared and unpaired t-tests to investigate significance of proposed predictors for vitamin D status.Results: 89.1% of the children were deficient in vitamin D levels (≤30 ng/ml); out of these 11% were severely deficient. Factors significantly associated with vitamin D deficiency were increasing age (p=0.034), absence of intake of calcium supplements (p=0.00) and upper socio-economic class (p=0.001). Low serum calcium levels (p=0.01) and high PTH levels (p=0.00) were associated significantly. Prevalence was similar in children with higher BMI as compared to lower BMI. Duration of AEDs rather than number of drugs was more associated with deficiency.Conclusions: A high prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy in noted in pediatric neurology patients.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Firdushi Begum ◽  
Papori Borah

Introduction : Till the 20th century deficiency of vitamin D which is synthesized in the skin upon exposure to UVB light was largely unknown. But today vitamin D deficiency has taken an epidemic form and is linked with many disease conditions. Several studies have put forward a very high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Indians of all age groups. Aims and objectives : To study the vitamin D status of people visiting a tertiary care centre in India. Materials and Methods : This is a prospective observational study conducted in the Biochemistry section of Central Clinical Laboratory of Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH). All the vitamin D reports generated in the laboratory for a period of 9 months were recorded and analysed to estimate the prevalence. Similar to other vitamin D studies, 20ng/ml was taken as the cut-off for vitamin D deficiency, 30ng/ml for insufficiency, and 30-100ng/ml as the normal vitamin D range. Results and Observations : In this study Vitamin D data of 1000 patients admitted in GMCH was analysed. Of them females outnumbered males (68.7% vs 31.3%). Of the 1000 vitamin D reports analysed 51.9% were found to be in the insufficient range, followed by 30.1% in the normal range. In 17.5% vitamin D levels were found to be deficient Vitamin D status was found to be lower in females as compared to males. 86.75% of females were either vitamin D deficient or insufficient and 71.88% of males were either deficient or insufficient. Conclusion : In this study 17.5% of study subjects had vitamin D level <20ng/ml, which may be considered as deficient, as per the Institute of Medicine(IOM) which considers a serum vitamin D value of 20 ng/ml as optimal. According to the U.S. Endocrine Society 30 ng/ml is optimal. Due to this variation the recommended daily intakes of this nutrient also vary.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. e331-e337
Author(s):  
Nazeem Fathima A. ◽  
Radha Kumar ◽  
Dev Kumar V. ◽  
Devanand Gulab Chaudhary

AbstractThe association between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and bone health in individuals with epilepsy has been recognized for more than 30 years. Several studies indicate an increased risk for bone loss in patients on antiepileptic medication as well as low levels of serum 25(OH)D. Patients on polytherapy AED are at a higher risk of adverse drug effects compared with those on monotherapy. The present study assessed serum 25(OH)D levels in children receiving AED and compares those children receiving monotherapy versus polytherapy. This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital setting on children with seizures receiving AEDs for period of more than 6 months. Participants were enrolled in three groups: 25 children on monotherapy, 25 children on polytherapy, and 25 healthy controls. Serum 25(OH)D level was performed for all children and analyzed. Serum 25(OH)D levels were normal in 52%, insufficient levels in 43.3%, and deficient in 6.7% of children. Vitamin D level was insufficient in 40% of children receiving monotherapy and 52% receiving polytherapy AED. Vitamin D deficiency was present in 4% in monotherapy group and 16% in polytherapy group which was statistically significant (p-value 0.047). Vitamin D deficiency was higher in children receiving AED compared with normal controls. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were higher in children on polytherapy. Our study emphasized the importance of monitoring vitamin D levels in children receiving AED to detect abnormalities in vitamin D levels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadija Murtaza Bhimji ◽  
Helga Naburi ◽  
Said Aboud ◽  
Karim Manji

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is emerging as a serious public health problem globally; however due to lack of resources, vitamin D levels are not routinely measured among neonates. The study was conducted to determine vitamin D levels in neonates and factors associated with the same. A cross-sectional study was conducted among neonates admitted at neonatal ward of a tertiary care hospital. Means and proportions were calculated from summarized data in frequency tables. Chi square test was used to determine association between vitamin D and various associated factors such as sex, infant birth weight, gestation age, parity of the mother, maternal age, and HIV status of the mother. A total of 170 neonates were studied, out of which 80% had vitamin D deficiency. Neonates born to HIV-infected mothers were significantly less likely to have vitamin D deficiency (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.06 – 0.77, p = 0.009). Subgroup analysis revealed the association to be stronger in terms neonates (p = 0.005). The association was not observed among preterm newborns. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in neonates was observed to be very high and needs more attention.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document