The new year has started off
with a bang! Lots of clients who have been working with me for 3 months or more
are now pregnant – Yay! As most are new mums a few have got in touch about
Midwives and Drs misconceptions and concerns about vitamins and minerals, as
this is where the medical community start to get involved. One of the concerns is about Vitamin A and its ability to cause birth defects; so let me respond and shed some light on this.
I have looked into this
issues myself quite thoroughly and the research links I have cited below
mention that the research is over 30 years old in regards to the potential
causes of birth defects. I will say that again.... In time frame only 18 cases have been cited where
this has caused deformities.
I’m sure you are aware that
any adverse reaction to drugs need to be reported. All medicines are reported under the medical
misuse category.
Drugs cause death and other health conditions by the hundreds of thousands annually. vitamins don't cause death http://bit.ly/1Ogey41 We don’t have anything for supplements to report on this, but as always
if anything does show ‘Teratogenicity ie potential for birth defects it has to
be reported as such.
A basic look into drugs
commonly used to help women conceive and to help those with sticky platelet,
such as Aspirin have far more potential to cause birth defects, http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/analgesic-combination-acetaminophen-salicylate-oral-route/before-using/drg-20069948 and not to mention fertility drugs that
many use unwittingly without looking into the small print, that can also cause
deformities and also death. http://www.drugs.com/pro/clomid.html
My point here, is many of my clients are getting all wound up about
something, without looking into the issues more closely, and colleagues in the
medical profession are making a point of issuing notice on Vitamin A without
also mentioning that drugs, many of them used in fertility circles, have far
more of a chance of giving ladies birth defects, And those were taken at the correct dosage!
Of the 18 reported cases
over the last 30 years who had babies with deformities all of the women in regards to Vitamin A took over 25,000IUs of Vitamin A, which
exceeds the RDA on this by an exponential amount. As always the devil is in the
detail. Most supplements will show 2
forms of Vitamin A – the one that can cause more damaging effects at high
levels is retinol only and not a mixed
between Retinol and beta carotene, which
is what most supplements have in them.
It is worth noting also in
this instance that Natural Vitamin A ( retinol) is found in high doses in organ
meat, such as liver. Which up until the 1970s was consumed and readily
available. Many children, like our parents who, were born after the war were
given cod liver oil daily, to ensure
they didn't have deficiencies. This form of fish oil has a much higher form of
Vitamin A.
One of the sources of this information is NHS
choices website. In this website, which I find extremely unhelpful and very
uniformed it says things like ‘ you should be able to get all you need
nutrients from your diet and don’t need any extra vitamin A’. Also rather
unhelpfully in the article they put the measurement in Mgs not IUs, which is
the standard international unit used to measure Vitamin A, so right from the
start shows a fundamental misunderstanding about vitamin A. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Vitamin-A.aspx
In terms of its use in
pregnancy it is vital and essential nutrient and the most important and well
known role of vitamin A is in relation to eye function. Vitamin A is necessary
to prevent drying of the eye ( Xerophthalmia) and corneal changes. It is also
used for retina function. 500,000 people lose their site each year due to
vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A levels are also inportant in thyroid health as it is needed for the uptake of idone and is required for thyroid hormone triiodothyroxine (T3) to bind to intracellular receptors.
Vitamin A is needed in
pregnancy for: - Growth, Immunity, epithelial tissue maintenance and
during cell proliferation, ie foetal growth!
I work with many
clients and look into deeper analysis of fertility issues and pregnancy
complications and one area I am fascinated in is Epigenetics. Many people who
have polymorphisms in their BCMO1 gene have an issue converting beta carotene
into retinol. So I welcome the use of mixed vitamin A for them in a retinol
base, as they will have a problem converting Beta Carotene in the body http://www.ion.ac.uk/blog/anonymous/tue-2014-06-17-0954/are-you-converting-enough-beta-carotene-vitamin-55-people-may-not Many of the studies on the populations in the
human genome project also had the potential for poor eye sight also so were
really in need of vitamin A, should the gene express.
I ask questions about eyesight as part of my
consultations and also look at this from a family health position, as there is
the potential here also to pass this on to off spring! One anecdotal thing I’m
noticing much more than when I was a child is that there seems to be a huge
amount of kids with glasses at a young age. I only remember a few in my whole
school growing up, so I’m wondering if reduced amounts of vitamin A in
pregnancy are a result of this?
WHO
recommendations. More recent than 1995 http://www.who.int/elena/titles/vitamina_pregnancy/en/
American
Teratology Society information on Vitamin A http://www.teratology.org/pubs/vitamina.htm
Further information on Vitamin
A http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-A#safety
On a personal note. I have
used many American supplements for the last 8 years of working with women
all of which have mixed vitamin A around 5000IUs and I have confidence on these
levels of Vitamin A. I have
worked with hundreds of ladies and so far no issues with this, with my
recommendations!
I hope this helps you to make
a more informed decision about vitamin A and its use in pregnancy and
preconception.
References
2.Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. N Engl J Med. 1995 Nov 23 ;333(21):1369-73
Wiegand, et al.
3.Safety of vitamin A: recent results. Int J Vitam Nutr
Res. 1998;68(6):411-6. Rothman, et al.
4.Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. NEJM.
1995 Nov 23;333(21)1369-73.
3. Miller, et al.
5.Preconceptional vitamin A use. Reprod Toxicol. 1998
Jan-Feb; 12(1)75-88
6.Tolerable levels of 10,000IUs https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/vitamin-a-retinol
