Vitamin D may be key for pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome

via naturopathiccarrents.com

"Vitamin D may play a key role in helping some women seeking treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-related infertility get pregnant. PCOS is a hormonal disorder affecting 5 to 10 percent of women of reproductive age. Left untreated, the condition can lead to long-term complications such as type 2 diabetes, elevated cholesterol, and infertility due to lack of ovulation.

Results of the new study, led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed women who were Vitamin D deficient when starting fertility treatments were 40 percent less likely to achieve a pregnancy. The results were presented this week at the annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress & Expo in San Antonio, Texas.

"Traditionally, Vitamin D is a concern because of its impact on calcium absorption and bone integrity, but the last several years have seen a surge in research exploring how other biological processes -- like fertility -- are impacted by a dearth of this critical nutrient," said lead author Samantha Butts, MD, MSCE, an associate professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "Our study builds on existing research linking vitamin D deficiency and diminished ovulation in response to fertility medications, and diminished likelihood of achieving a pregnancy that results in delivery of a live born infant showing it plays a significant role in fertility of women with PCOS."

In the study, Butts and colleagues analyzed and compared the results of two large-scale clinical trials (PPCOS II and AMIGOS), which examined the effectiveness of fertility drugs on improving pregnancy rates among women with PCOS and Unexplained Infertility respectively. Data from more than 1,000 participants revealed that regardless of body mass index, race, age, markers of metabolic functioning, or fertility treatment, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a reduced likelihood of these women becoming pregnant and delivering babies if PCOS was the underlying cause of infertility. A relationship between vitamin D deficiency and fertility treatment outcomes was not seen in the subjects from the AMIGOS trial who had Unexplained Infertility..."

Learn more:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171106085919.htm

Vitamin D supplements could improve fertility

Vitamin D supplements
could improve fertility

"New data on the link between vitamin D and male fertility will be presented today at the European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE) in Lisbon. The new results add to our understanding of the effects of low vitamin D levels on testosterone levels and whether vitamin D supplementation could help improve fertility in both sexes.

Vitamin D, a hormone produced by the body through exposure to sunshine or obtained from foods such as fatty fish and egg yolk, helps the body control calcium and phosphate levels. Previous studies have linked vitamin D levels with a range of health problems including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Up to 80% of the population in Europe are affected by low vitamin D levels. As this is particularly common amongst people who lead unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles, low vitamin D levels have been associated with obesity; at the same time as obesity is rising, vitamin D levels are falling. In addition, female fertility and semen quality have deteriorated in the recent years due to largely unknown causes. Infertility rates amongst couples who want to have children are at 10-15%, and up to 10% of women of reproductive age suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition which may hinder fertility.

Dr Elisabeth Lerchbaum, from the Medical University of Graz, has led much research on the effects of vitamin D supplementation in different aspects of male and female fertility. Research from her group and others suggests vitamin D affects many aspects of fertility in both genders, including influencing production and maturation of sperm cells in men, egg cell and uterine lining maturation in women, and sex hormone production in both sexes..."

Learn more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170523084302.htm

The Important Role of Vitamin D in our Health

"Why do I need vitamin D?

Your body must have vitamin D to absorb calcium and promote bone growth. Too little vitamin D results in soft bones in children (rickets) and fragile, misshapen bones in adults (osteomalacia). You also need vitamin D for other important body functions.

Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, and other maladies. These studies show that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of disease, although they do not definitively prove that lack of vitamin D causes disease — or that vitamin D supplements would lower risk.

The Vitamin D Council — a scientist-led group promoting vitamin D deficiency awareness — suggests vitamin D treatment might be found helpful in treating or preventing autism, autoimmune disease, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high bloodpressure, flu, neuromuscular diseases, and osteoporosis. However, there have been no definitive clinical trials.

That’s why the Institute of Medicine expert committee’s November 2010 review found no conclusive evidence that vitamin D, by itself, offers wide-ranging health benefits.

Despite the many claims of benefit surrounding vitamin D in particular, the evidence did not support a basis for a causal relationship between vitamin D and many of the numerous health outcomes purported to be affected by vitamin D intake,” the IOM committee concluded.

The only proven benefit of vitamin D is its role in helping calcium build strong bones. But that’s far from the whole story. Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and the neuromuscular system. Vitamin D also plays major roles in the life cycle of human cells..."

Learn more: 

http://fertility-biocenter.com/the-important-role-of-vitamin-c-in-our-health-1610