scholarly journals Prevalence of vitamin D and B12 deficiency in pregnant women in Jammu, India

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.

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 822-825
Author(s):  
Jai Bahadur Khattri ◽  
Srijana Thapa Godar ◽  
Anil Subedi

Introduction: The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in depression is not clear and more research is needed. Objectives: The objective of this study is to find the prevalence of deficiency of vitamin B12 level in the depressed patient. The second objective is to find the prevalence of deficiency of vitamin B12 according to different socio-demographic variables. Methodology: The patients diagnosed as depressive episodes according to the International Classification of Disease – 10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders were selected from the Psychiatric Out-Patient Department of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara.  The proforma was used to collect the socio-demographic profile of the patient. The serum sample of the 50 patients was sent for vitamin B12 estimation. Serum concentrations less than 239 pg/ml was considered deficient in this study. Results: The overall prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was 22% in the depressed patients. The mean age of the total patients were 39.2 years with the standard deviation of 13.75 years. Vitamin B12 deficiency was more prevalent in the socio-demographic variables like age above 61 years, Brahmin and Chhetri caste, female gender, unmarried groups, and in the patients living in the urban area as compared to other variables. Conclusion: The result shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is common in the patients with depression. Clinicians should be aware of the risk for vitamin B12 deficiency in depressive patients.  As this study was done in limited geographical area and sample size being small, further larger studies are needed before generalizing these results.


Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarah Yusuf ◽  
Jayanthi Alamelu ◽  
Ming Lim ◽  
Nomazulu Dlamini

Introduction: Risk factors in childhood stroke are multiple and causality hard to determine. Current guidelines recommend prothrombotic workup, yet yield is variable, often without therapeutic consequence. Raised homocysteine is associated with vitamin B12 deficiency (B12), which is not routinely measured. Hypothesis: We hypothesised that B12 deficiency is a treatable risk factor for stroke in children not reliably identified by analysis of homocysteine only. Method: We retrospectively reviewed paediatric stroke patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital from 2010-2014. All patients with plasma homocysteine measured as part of their prothrombotic workup were selected. All clinical data closest to stroke diagnosis were reviewed. B12 deficiency was defined as low total and/or holo (functional) vitamin B12 with/without raised methylmalonic acid (MMA). Parental prothrombotic workup and B12 status was analysed where available. Results: Of 134 patients, 61 had homocysteine levels, 20 were tested for vitamin B12 (age range 0-14.8 years), 14/20 for MMA. B12 deficiency was found in 7/20 with median age of acute stroke presentation of 1 day (25th percentile= 0; 75th percentile= 51days). Median age of stroke presentation in B12 replete group was 3.5 years (25th percentile=2.0;75th percentile=7.0years). There was a statistical difference in age of stroke presentation between the B12 deficient and replete groups (Kruskal-Wallis, p=0.001). Raised homocysteine (10/20) was not sensitive in detecting B12 deficiency (sensitivity 42.8%, 95% CI 15.82-74.95). Two of seven had additional risk factors (1/7 iron deficiency, 1/7 MTHFR 667 homozygous). Seizures were the most common stroke presentation regardless of B12 status. Vitamin B12 (im) was given in 4/7 children and 3/9 parents (2 mothers, 1 father). Five of seven were breast fed. All treated parents were vegetarian. Conclusion: Our study suggests vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with early childhood stroke. Homocysteine alone is not a sensitive screen for this. Investigation with functional biomarkers such as holo B12 and MMA would allow for improved detection of a treatable risk factor in childhood stroke. Further studies may support this recommendation being added to guidelines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 478
Author(s):  
Rakesh Kumar Yadav ◽  
Sujit Kumar

Background: Pancytopenia is common clinical condition which we encounter in our daily clinical practice. Pancytopenia is characterized by decrease in all the three major components of blood like Red Blood Corpuscles, White blood Corpuscle, and platelets. This study was carried out to look for causes of pancytopenia and clinical presentations at tertiary care hospital in north India.Methods: The study was conducted at MLN Medical College, Allahabad in the Department of Medicine between June 2018 to July 2019. Total 125 patients who attended department of medicine were screened for study. After exclusion 94 patients were studied prospectively.Results: Out of 94 patients 59 were males, and 35 females in the study group. Male to female ratio was 1.6:1. Maximum patients were between 20 years to 35years of age group. Pallor and weakness were most common clinical feature in this study group. Out of various etiological causes vitamin B12 deficiency was the commonest in our study. 48(51%) patients had megaloblastic anemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency. Second most common etiological factor was hypo plastic/aplastic anemia. Other etiological abnormalities were hypersplenism, dengue, malaria, sepsis, myelodysplastic syndrome and multiple myeloma.Conclusions: Bone marrow examinations, aspiration cytology or biopsy are important tool for diagnosis of pancytopenia. Underlying cause and severity of disease determine the outcome of pancytopenia. The present study concluded that most of patients with pancytopenia have treatable cause so early diagnosis will be helpful for management of patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (46) ◽  
pp. 2674-2679
Author(s):  
Vairapraveena Ramesh ◽  
Sangeetha Ashokan ◽  
Anu Sengottaiyan ◽  
Vijay Anto James

BACKGROUND It is well known that Vitamin B12 deficiency is common among vegetarians as Vitamin B12 is obtained predominantly from animal sources. However, recent reports show that Vitamin B12 deficiency is becoming more common among nonvegetarians too and surprisingly the major factor attributing to this is found to be due to dietary deficiency. We hypothesized that this could also be due to the type of non-vegetarian food consumed, cooking methods, type of utensil used, and other modifiable risk factors like smoking, alcohol and diseases causing Vitamin B12 deficiency. We wanted to assess the proportion of vegetarians and nonvegetarians with vit. B12 deficiency and analyse the contributing factors among inpatients with vitamin B12 deficiency in a tertiary care hospital in South India. METHODS This observational, prospective study was done between June and September 2019 & involved 200 Vitamin B12 deficiency patients in the age group of 20 - 50 years of both the genders. Patients were identified after reviewing their medical records and laboratory tests for MCV, MCH, MCHC, Hb & vitamin B12. A detailed history of their food habits, practices & other relevant factors was obtained using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using Mann Whitney U test. RESULTS There was no statistical difference (p = 0.379) in the vitamin B12 levels among vegetarians and non-vegetarians. 54.6 % of participants consumed poultry, 32.5 % consumed fruits & vegetables less than 4 times a week, 36 % & 42 % consumed fried & boiled food, 58 % used ever-silver vessels for cooking, 70.6 % used packaged milk, 23 % consumed alcohol & 21 % were smokers. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin B12 deficiency is common both among vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Among non-vegetarians, deficiency is seen more with poultry eaters, packaged milk consumers, with fried / boiled method of cooking using ever-silver vessels. Alcoholism, caffeinated beverages, smoking, presence of other diseases like diabetes, hypertension, peptic ulcer, drug intake also contributes to Vitamin B12 deficiency. KEYWORDS Vitamin B12 Deficiency, Non-Vegetarians, Vegetarians, Contributing Factors


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Sunayna Pandey ◽  
NimeshC Parikh ◽  
HarshJ Oza ◽  
ShreyaseeS Bhowmick

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