June 2010 - sahtak
13
DEARBORN HEIGHTS
PHARMACY
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A
rab American women living in southeast De-
troit whose conservative dress limits their ex-
posure to sun should be taking a vitamin D
supplement to boost their dangerously low serum lev-
els, according to a study published by Henry Ford
Hospital researchers.
Researchers found that all 87 women involved in a
small study showed vitamin D levels averaging 8.5 ng/mL
(nanograms per milliliter) for those who woreWestern
dress to 4 ng/mL for those who wore the hijab,modest
dress with a headscarf.A healthy vitamin D level is 30
ng/mL or higher.
Also, the women consumed little dietary sources of
vitamin D. Forty-seven women reported drinking any
milk on a weekly basis, but the amount they consume
isn't significant enough to boost their vitamin D levels, re-
searchers say.
The study is published in the January/February issue of
Endocrine Practice. It is believed to be the largest study
on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in one of the
largest concentrations ofArabAmericans in southeast
Michigan.
Raymond Hobbs,M.D., a Henry Ford Internal Medi-
cine physician and lead author of the study, described the
vitamin D deficiency in the women as "much greater than
we would have thought."
"When people live where the weather is colder
and they are more covered with clothing, they de-
pend on their diet for their vitamin D," Dr. Hobbs
says. "Unfortunately, most food with the exception
of oily fish and vitamin D fortified milk has very little
vitamin D.The women in our study
drank very little milk, fortified or-
ange juice and had decreased
sun exposure
because of
their
dress."
Low lev-
els of vitamin D are
linked to increased risk of cancer, diabetes and Crohn's
disease,Dr.Hobbs says.Vitamin D is needed to maintain
normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. It also
helps in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and
maintain strong bones.
"Our findings are consistent with those of similar
studies in other parts of the world and underscore the
point that there are pockets of individuals who are at risk
for culturally mediated health problems," Dr.Hobbs says.
"We need to raise their awareness of this deficiency and
to offer them options for increasing their vitamin D lev-
els.A vitamin D supplement is a start."
More than 490,000 Arab Americans reside in south-
east Michigan, the largest population anywhere outside
the Middle East. For the study, researchers looked at
Arab-American women in the city of Dearborn, a
southeast Detroit suburb in which Arab Americans
comprise one third of the 100,000 population.
Sunlight exposure is the single most important factor
in producing vitamin D in the body. For example, sun
bathing for a period of time will produce 10,000- 20,000
international units, a measure of vitamin potency, or the
equivalent of 100 glasses of fortified milk.
For the study, researchers recruited women who
attended an ethnic supermarket in Dearborn during
the course of two Saturdays in April 2007 to search
for correlations with dress, diet, use of vitamin D-for-
tified foods and vitamin supplements.They were inter-
viewed to assess dress, medical history, medication
use, clinical symptoms associated with vitamin D defi-
ciency, consumption of fortified milk or fortified or-
ange juice and vitamin supplements. Blood samples
also were taken onsite and analyzed for levels of vita-
min D and parathyroid hormone and other minerals.
Dr.Hobbs says Henry Ford is launching an awareness
campaign to educate theArabAmerican community in
Dearborn about the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency
and offer options for addressing the problem.
Researchers theorize thatArabAmerican women
avoid milk because of reported higher incidence of lac-
tose intolerance in their population.
"Our goal is to help them understand that by taking
these preventive measures now, they can avoid serious
health problems in the future," Dr.Hobbs says.
Dangerously low vitamin D levels
in Arab American women
