Vitamin D and childhood disability: diseases of the nervous system

Abstract

Child disability associated with diseases of the nervous system, the main cause of which is cerebral palsy (CP), is often accompanied by an insufficient level and high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, but in our opinion, practicing physicians and health officials at all levels pay insufficient attention to this problem, therefore, this paper is devoted to the study of the influence of vitamin D on the disability of children resulting from diseases of the nervous system. We statistically investigated the association between the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in municipalities of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug — Yugra and the number of cases of resulting childhood disability due to nervous system disease in 2021, using the anonymized results of 31,596 measurements of vitamin D levels in residents of the autonomous okrug, gratuitously provided to us by INVITRO-Ural LLC, whose staff the authors express their deep gratitude to. The calculations demonstrated the presence of a directly proportional relationship between the incidence of disability as a result of nervous system disease and the prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency in the territory of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra. The incidence of cerebral palsy is largely due to pregnancy abnormalities. Many researchers have associated the occurrence of cerebral palsy with preterm labor and low birth weight of the newborn with normal gestational age. The analysis indicates the great influence of vitamin D on the course and results of pregnancy, since pregnant women often have insufficient levels of vitamin D, which does not ensure full development of the fetus, which is accompanied by an increased incidence of various pathologies in the mother and child. Taking vitamin D supplements as prescribed by a doctor can be useful for pregnant women and children with cerebral palsy. The former need it to ensure the normal course and favorable outcome of pregnancy, and the latter — to increase bone mineral density and improve the body’s immune defense against a variety of diseases. To make recommendations on the amount of daily dosage and duration of vitamin D preparations, accurate knowledge of its initial level in the patient’s blood serum is required, which predetermines the need for mandatory monitoring of 25(OH)D levels in pregnant women and patients with cerebral palsy.