Preeclampsia is a condition which occurs only during pregnancy and a short post-pregnancy period. It causes increased blood pressure and protein in the urine. If left undiagnosed, preeclampsia can lead to eclampsia, a condition that can cause seizures dangerous to both mother and child. Women with preeclampsia may experience swelling of the face and hands, headaches, vision changes, nausea, and sudden weight gain. Typically, preeclampsia occurs 20 weeks into a pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after pregnancy.1 Proper medical attention is vital to diagnose and manage preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a relatively common health condition among pregnant women, affecting 3-10% of pregnancies worldwide.2 Scientists are working to find out more about the cause of preeclampsia, as it’s not fully understood. To date, researchers are interested if vitamin D can help a mother’s immune system function to decrease their risk of preeclampsia. They are looking into vitamin D’s ability to decrease blood pressure, which may help to prevent preeclampsia.
Currently, research shows a link between vitamin D deficiency and increased chances of getting preeclampsia, but it’s unknown if getting enough vitamin D can help. Scientists are trying to find out how and if vitamin D is involved in the prevention of preeclampsia. If you are pregnant and want to take vitamin D to prevent preeclampsia, it’s unlikely to harm you. However, it may not prevent preeclampsia either. Talk to your doctor about taking vitamin D or any other supplement during pregnancy. Although it’s unknown what the exact vitamin D has on preeclampsia, vitamin D is important during pregnancy for many other reasons. Preeclampsia is a condition which occurs only when you’re pregnant and for a short period after your baby is born. It causes high blood pressure and it also causes protein to leak out of your kidneys and into your urine. It’s usually mild and has little effect on the health of either mother or baby.3 However, for a small number of women preeclampsia can be severe and if it isn’t diagnosed and treated, it can lead to a condition called eclampsia which can cause seizures (fits or convulsions).
This can be very serious for both you and your baby and can be life threatening. Preeclampsia most often develops in the second half of pregnancy, after 20 weeks, and can continue for six weeks after your baby is born. If you develop preeclampsia your baby is more likely to be born by caesarian section.4 Preeclampsia is also sometimes called toxemia. Doctors don’t know exactly what causes preeclampsia. It’s thought that it may be caused by problems with the placenta. This can cause your body to have an immune response against the placenta and baby. Other possible causes include: In a healthy pregnancy, your body widens the blood vessels to the placenta, which supplies your baby with oxygen and nutrients. If you have preeclampsia, the blood vessels become narrow, which means your placenta and therefore your baby get less blood than they need. Problems with the placenta can affect your organs, such as your kidneys, liver and brain, and can affect how your baby develops and grows.
Preeclampsia occurs in about 4 in every 100 healthy women who become pregnant. You’re more likely to develop preeclampsia if it’s your first pregnancy, if you’re under 20 years of age or over 35. You’re also more likely to develop preeclampsia if you: Preeclampsia can have no symptoms, so it’s diagnosed by regular checks on your blood pressure and urine. Doctors can sometimes only be sure that you had preeclampsia once you have given birth and any symptoms have gone. However, with preeclampsia, you may still develop some and different kinds of symptoms. If your blood pressure was normal before you became pregnant, the signs of preeclampsia may include: Because many of these symptoms can develop in a healthy pregnancy, it can be difficult to know when to go to the doctor. If you have severe headaches, blurred vision, or severe pain in your abdomen, contact your doctor right away.6 Vitamin D is important for overall health and scientists are getting closer to knowing how exactly vitamin D keeps us healthy.
High blood pressure occurs in preeclampsia. Some research shows that getting enough vitamin D may lower blood pressure. A proposed reason for this link is that vitamin D may help to control the hormones that affect your blood pressure.7, 8,9 Recent research reports that vitamin D has a hand in how your immune system works, which also plays a role in the risk of developing preeclampsia. In some women with preeclampsia, their immune system responds against the placenta and baby, as if they’re foreign invaders. Scientists and doctors have found that vitamin D influences your immune system by affecting the balance between cells called T helpers, which are essential for a healthy pregnancy.10 Scientists and doctors think that vitamin D’s positive effect on your immune system may potentially help prevent preeclampsia. A number of studies have suggested that the season of the year is linked to preeclampsia. Vitamin D levels are generally highest during summer months and lowest during winter months.
These studies suggest a link between season and risk of preeclampsia, not a cause of preeclampsia. More specific research has looked at whether having low levels of vitamin D in your body (vitamin D deficiency) during pregnancy affects your likelihood of developing preeclampsia. Research has also looked at whether taking a vitamin D supplement during pregnancy may reduce your chances of developing preeclampsia. These studies show there is a link between vitamin D and preeclampsia, but do not prove whether vitamin D deficiency causes preeclampsia or not. Also, there is some research that shows no link between vitamin D and preeclampsia.1718 To date, there are no studies that prove taking a vitamin D supplement or getting enough vitamin D during pregnancy can prevent you from getting preeclampsia. Given this, it is not known if getting enough vitamin D can prevent preeclampsia. In one study that started back in 1966,19 researchers gave babies either a 2,000 IU supplement of vitamin D or nothing.
They wanted to know when these babies grew up, became older and pregnant several decades later in life, if this supplementation had any effect on their chances of getting preeclampsia during their first pregnancy. They found that those who received 2,000 IU/day during their first year of life, the chances of them developing preeclampsia much later in life reduced by half. Scientists and doctors think this is because vitamin D helps the body have the correct balance of cells involved in your immune system. Those who got vitamin D in their first year of life had a better balanced immune system later in life. Thus, those who got vitamin D had a lower chance of getting preeclampsia. Research does show that there is a link between your vitamin D levels, the amount you expose your skin to the sun, and your chances of developing preeclampsia. The lower your vitamin D level, the more likely you are to develop preeclampsia. However, it’s not known if this is just a link, or if vitamin D deficiency causes preeclampsia.
For example, there might be something else that causes both vitamin D deficiency and preeclampsia. Vitamin D is important for your general health during pregnancy and for your developing baby. Whether or not vitamin D affects your chances of getting preeclampsia, it makes sense to ensure you have good levels of vitamin D in your body while you are pregnant. However, you may still develop preeclampsia even if you’re getting enough vitamin D. Many women don’t get enough vitamin D when they are pregnant.21 The Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies recommends that if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding you should have 600IU of vitamin D a day. Talk to your doctor about taking vitamin D during pregnancy. The Vitamin D Council recommends amounts much higher than the Institute of Medicine and recommends that if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, you should take 6,000 IU vitamin D every day except on days you get good amounts of sun exposure.