Unearthed connection between vitamin D levels and birth control methods examined
Sunshine Pills and Baby Bones: Vitamin D and Hormonal Contraceptives
Hey there! Ever wondered if your birth control pills are secretly upping your vitamin D levels? Well, sit tight, because we're diving into the fascinating world of sunshine, bones, and contraceptives!
Vitamin D, the bone-strengthening superstar, plays a crucial role in maintaining the correct balance of calcium and phosphorus in your blood, helping your body absorb calcium – a fundamental building block for those strong bones. You can score plenty of this sunshine vitamin from food sources like fish and eggs, or you could just chill outside for a bit – about 90% of our vitamin D comes from sunlight!
But (you knew there was a but, right?), a deficiency in vitamin D can lead to some pretty harsh consequences, like rickets and osteomalacia (softening of the bones). Because vitamin D is such a big deal in bone formation, it's especially important during pregnancy.
Quaker E. Harmon, a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, set out to investigate the association between vitamin D levels and oral contraceptives. Intrigued? Let's dive into the nitty-gritty!
Sunshine Pills and Vitamin D
Harmon and her team looked at data from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids (SELF), a reproductive health research project involving almost 1,700 African-American women living in and around Detroit, MI, aged 23-34. The researchers asked women about their contraceptive use, time spent outside, and vitamin D supplement intake. In total, 1,662 women donated blood samples to measure levels of the most common circulating form of vitamin D, called 25-hydroxy vitamin D.
And here's the juicy part – women who were taking estrogen-containing contraception showed significantly higher levels of vitamin D compared to those not using these pills, patches, or rings. Even after accounted for external factors like sunlight and other variables, the difference remained substantial.
"Our study found that women who were using contraception containing estrogen tended to have higher vitamin D levels than other women," Harmon said. "This suggests that contraceptives containing estrogen tend to boost vitamin D levels, and those levels are likely to fall when women cease using contraception."
Digging deeper, Harmon and her team found that current users of birth control had higher levels of vitamin D, and past users had average levels. The increase didn't seem to be explained by an increase in outdoor time – Harmon and her team were unable to find any behavioral differences to explain the bump.
A Deficient Start to Pregnancy
These findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, raise an interesting question: what happens when a woman decides to have a baby after using estrogen-based contraceptives?
As a woman starts trying to conceive, or even before, she might be at risk of becoming deficient in vitamin D. So, for women who are planning to stop using birth control, Harmon recommends taking steps to ensure vitamin D levels are adequate during preconception and pregnancy.
So, why would estrogen-based contraception affect vitamin D levels? Well, we don't know for sure, but Harmon suspects it might relate to estrogen influencing vitamin D metabolism. Further work is needed to clarify this relationship.
The current study looked solely at African-American women. However, the same association has been observed in women of different races, so Harmon believes that the link between estrogen-containing contraceptives and vitamin D levels may not be race-specific. In the United States, African-American women are more likely to be vitamin D-deficient, so small increases (or decreases) could have significant implications.
Harmon is continuing to follow this group of women to further investigate the relationship and is working on another group to investigate how vitamin D varies across the menstrual cycle. Keep your eyes peeled for those upcoming studies!
In conclusion, it seems that estrogen-containing contraceptives may help bump up your vitamin D levels. While it's essential to maintain adequate vitamin D intake regardless of your birth control history to ensure maternal and fetal health, concurring with Harmon, this newfound association might help reduce the incidence or severity of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy. So, pregnancy, strong bones, and the power of sunshine – what a wonderful world we live in!
Stay fantastic, folks!
Want to learn more about the link between vitamin D and cancer risk? Check out this article!
- Vitamin D, a crucial nutrient for bone health, helps maintain the balance of calcium and phosphorus in the blood and aids in calcium absorption.
- Deficiencies in vitamin D can lead to harsh consequences like rickets and osteomalacia, emphasizing its significance during pregnancy.
- Quaker E. Harmon, a research fellow, investigated the association between vitamin D levels and oral contraceptives.
- Harmon found that women using contraceptives containing estrogen showed significantly higher levels of vitamin D compared to others.
- The increase in vitamin D levels wasn't explained by increased outdoor time, suggesting that contraceptives containing estrogen may influence vitamin D metabolism.
- As women stop using estrogen-based contraceptives, they might be at risk of becoming deficient in vitamin D, which could have significant implications for African-American women.
- Harmon is continuing her research to further investigate the relationship between estrogen-containing contraceptives and vitamin D levels, as well as how vitamin D varies across the menstrual cycle.
- The link between estrogen-containing contraceptives and vitamin D levels may not be race-specific, and understanding this association could help reduce the incidence or severity of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy.
