Supplements of vitamin A during pregnancy may improve lung function in infants by about 3 per cent, according to a new study from New England Journal of Medicine. Children of mothers who received beta-carotene supplements did not experience any benefits, relative to placebo, however. “The greater bioefficacy of preformed vitamin A as compared with beta carotene may stem from differences in absorption and metabolism,” explained the researchers, led by William Checkley, MD, PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “The lower bioefficacy of the beta-carotene supplement as a source of vitamin A in the mothers and their offspring in our trial was also evident in the finding that serum retinol concentrations in mothers at mid-pregnancy and post partum and in their infants at 3 months of age were lower among those in the beta-carotene group than they were among those in the preformed–vitamin A group,” they added.
The magnitude of effect observed in this study is slightly greater than that associated with preventing exposure to parental smoking in school-age children.” “Improved lung function was likely specific to supplementation received in utero because this population of children was subsequently exposed beyond six months of age to semiannual vitamin A supplementation with high coverage as part of a national program during their preschool years,” said co-author Keith West from the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health. “This benefit was limited to children whose mothers received vitamin A and not to those whose mothers received beta-carotene. Early interventions with vitamin A in communities where undernutrition is highly prevalent may have long-lasting consequences in lung health.”
Bonnie - this is another reason why a prenatal with sufficient amounts of retinol vitamin A or Cod Liver Oil is crucial. Certain supplement manufacturers have decided to provide beta carotene as the only form of vitamin A, which I believe is a big mistake.
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