Researchers from the Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health have discovered a strong link between low vitamin D and bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common vaginal infection among women.
Bacterial vaginosis is caused by changes to the balance of microflora in a woman’s vagina. Typically, it‘s treated with a course of antibiotics. (I‘d much rather see a woman prevent this and other common infections with a daily probiotic, but that‘s another story for another day.)
In any case, the Pittsburgh study looked at 469 women during the first trimester of pregnancy.
They found that 41 percent of the women had BV. (Holy cow, that‘s high! They definitely should be taking a daily probiotic.)
The Pittsburgh team also discovered that women with low vitamin D in their blood (below 20 nmol/L) had a 34 percent greater risk of having BV compared to women with normal vitamin D (more than 80 nmol/L). Put another way, almost 60 percent of the women with low vitamin D also had BV.
Just another reason, ladies, to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D daily. Remember, spending just 30 minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen will give you 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. For anyone not getting regular sun exposure, I usually recommend taking 2000 IUs of vitamin D daily. In winter months, I‘d go for 4000 IUs daily. |
