Women with fertility problems may benefit from taking vitamin D supplements, research has found.
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor in San Francisco Published: 2:06AM GMT 11 Nov 2008
A study has found a link between low levels of Vitamin D and problems with ovulation.
The research may offer a simple, cheap and safe option for women to try before resorting to drugs.
It was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in San Francisco.
The team from Yale University School of Medicine studied 67 infertile women and took Vitamin D measures from them. Only 7 per cent of them had normal vitamin D levels and the rest had either insufficient levels or clinical deficiency.
Low levels of Vitamin D are a particular problem in winter when there is less natural exposure to sunlight, from which the body makes the vitamin.
It is also present in various foods such as oily fish and eggs, but it can be difficult to obtain sufficient amounts from diet.
Dr Lubna Pal, from Yale, said: "Of note, not a single patient with either ovulatory disturbance or polycystic ovary syndrome demonstrated normal Vitamin D levels; 39 per cent of those with ovulatory disturbance and 38 per cent of those with PCOS had serum 25OHD levels consistent with deficiency.
"Given the pandemic of Vitamin D insufficiency, if indeed our observations are substantiated, aggressive repletion with Vitamin D may emerge as an alternative approach to facilitate ovulation resumption with minimal to no risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome or multiple pregnancy."
Vitamin D can aid fertility
Women with fertility problems may benefit from taking vitamin D supplements, research has found.
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor inSan Francisco
Published: 2:06AM GMT 11 Nov 2008
A study has found a link between low levels of Vitamin D and problems with ovulation.
The research may offer a simple, cheap and safe option for women to try before resorting to drugs.
It was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in San Francisco.
The team from Yale University School of Medicine studied 67 infertile women and took Vitamin D measures from them. Only 7 per cent of them had normal vitamin D levels and the rest had either insufficient levels or clinical deficiency.
Low levels of Vitamin D are a particular problem in winter when there is less natural exposure to sunlight, from which the body makes the vitamin.
It is also present in various foods such as oily fish and eggs, but it can be difficult to obtain sufficient amounts from diet.
Dr Lubna Pal, from Yale, said: "Of note, not a single patient with either ovulatory disturbance or polycystic ovary syndrome demonstrated normal Vitamin D levels; 39 per cent of those with ovulatory disturbance and 38 per cent of those with PCOS had serum 25OHD levels consistent with deficiency.
"Given the pandemic of Vitamin D insufficiency, if indeed our observations are substantiated, aggressive repletion with Vitamin D may emerge as an alternative approach to facilitate ovulation resumption with minimal to no risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome or multiple pregnancy."