Discoverymade of potential connection between vitamin D and contraception
Finding Out the Link Between Estrogen-Based Contraceptives and Vitamin D Levels
Turns out, women who take estrogen-based birth control pills have a higher amount of vitamin D in their system compared to those who don't. On the flip side, women who stop using these contraceptives experience a significant drop in their vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D plays a crucial role in ensuring the proper balance of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. It helps the body absorb calcium, which is essential for bone health. Foods like fish and eggs are rich sources of vitamin D, but about 90% of this vital nutrient is produced in our skin through a chemical reaction after exposure to sunlight.
Deficiency in vitamin D can lead to health issues such as rickets and osteomalacia, where the bones become soft due to insufficient mineralization. During pregnancy, due to increased demand for calcium, pregnant women have an elevated risk of vitamin D deficiency and related bone problems.
To get to the bottom of this, Dr. Quaker E. Harmon from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC, decided to investigate any changes in vitamin D levels associated with taking oral contraceptives.
Vitamin D and Contraception
The researchers carried out an analysis of data from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids (SELF), a project focused on reproductive health. The project involved 1,662 African-American women aged 23-34 from Detroit, MI, who were asked about their contraceptive use and any vitamin D supplements they took. They also provided blood samples to determine their levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D, the most common circulating form of vitamin D.
Dr. Harmon and her team found that women using estrogen-based contraception had higher vitamin D levels compared to other women, even after accounting for confounding factors like seasonal exposure to light. "We could not find any behavioral differences such as increased time spent outdoors to explain the increase," said Dr. Harmon. "Our findings suggest that contraceptives containing estrogen tend to boost vitamin D levels, and those levels are likely to fall when women cease using contraception."
After adjusting for confounding variables, the use of contraceptive pills, patches, or rings containing estrogen was linked with 20 percent higher levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D.
As women plan to become pregnant, they may be at risk of vitamin D deficiency due to the drop in vitamin D levels when they stop using contraception. Dr. Harmon advises pregnant women to take steps to ensure adequate vitamin D levels. However, she notes that more research is needed to fully understand the connection between estrogen-based contraception and vitamin D levels during pregnancy.
While most studies focusing on the relationship between estrogen-based contraception and vitamin D levels have been conducted on African-American women, Dr. Harmon explains that the same association has been observed in other groups, and the association doesn't appear to be related to race. In the United States, African-American women are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency due to various factors, so small increases or decreases in their vitamin D concentrations may be more significant.
Dr. Harmon and her team are continuing to investigate the relationship between estrogen-based contraception and vitamin D levels during pregnancy and across the menstrual cycle.
- Estrogen-based contraceptives have been found to increase the amount of vitamin D in a woman's system compared to those who don't take them.
- Vitamin D plays a significant role in maintaining the balance of calcium and phosphorus in the blood, helping the body absorb calcium, which is crucial for bone health.
- Deficiency in vitamin D can lead to health issues such as rickets and osteomalacia, where the bones become soft due to insufficient mineralization.
- Dr. Quaker E. Harmon, from the National Institutes of Health, is investigating the changes in vitamin D levels associated with taking oral contraceptives.
- In a study involving 1,662 African-American women, those using estrogen-based contraception had higher vitamin D levels compared to other women, even after accounting for confounding factors.
- The use of contraceptive pills, patches, or rings containing estrogen was linked with 20 percent higher levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D after adjusting for confounding variables.
- As women plan to become pregnant, they may be at risk of vitamin D deficiency due to the drop in vitamin D levels when they stop using contraception.
- While most studies on the relationship between estrogen-based contraception and vitamin D levels have been conducted on African-American women, the same association has been observed in other groups, and the association doesn't appear to be related to race.
