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FRIDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- Doubling the recommended dose of vitamin A does not benefit mothers and children in developing countries, says a U.K. study in The Lancet medical journal.
Vitamin A supplementation in countries where people suffer a deficiency of the vitamin has been shown to decrease death rates, and a standard World Health Organization (WHO) dosing schedule for vitamin supplementation has been adopted by many developing countries, according to background information in the study.
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In 2002, the International Vitamin A Consultative Group (IVACG) suggested that mothers and children in developing countries should get double the WHO-recommended dose.
This study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's International Nutrition Group included 220 women-infant pairs in a region of moderate vitamin A deficiency in Gambia. One group of women and their children received the WHO-recommended dose of vitamin A, while another group received the IVACG-recommended dose.
Test results showed no significant differences between the two groups of children in terms of blood plasma levels of vitamin A or other health-related markers in blood, the upper respiratory tract or gastrointestinal tract.
"Our results do not lend support to the proposal to increase the existing WHO standard dosing schedule for vitamin A in areas of moderate vitamin A deficiency. Caution is urged for future studies, because trials have shown possible adverse effects of higher doses of vitamin A and potential negative interactions with the expanded program on immunization (EPI) vaccines," the study authors wrote.
More information
Here are the WHO's vitamin A recommendations.
-- Robert Preidt
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