This discovery expands on previous study carried out by the same team of investigators. That work discovered that children at the age of two, whose mothers had pretty low vitamin E consumption in the course of pregnancy, were more inclined to wheezing - even when they were generally healthy.
"This is part of a body of the study suggesting that sufficient vitamin E consumption is almost certainly essential," explained research lead author Dr Graham Devereux, of the department of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Devereux and his partners announced their findings in the September issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The authors concentrated on more than 1 250 pregnant women who were attending neo-natal clinics in Scotland between 1997 and 1999.
Maternal diet observed
Maternal dietary consumption was evaluated dating back to conception, as were medical histories connected with asthma, wheezing and other respiratory issues. The same information was gathered for the children of these women up until the age of five.
The scientists have discovered that maternal consumption of nutrients, for example vitamin C, beta-carotene, magnesium, copper, and iron in the course of pregnancy did not appear to be associated with a greater risk for wheezing or asthma.
Nevertheless, low consumption of vitamin E in the course of pregnancy was correlated with a greater risk among offspring for experiencing persistent asthma, starting during the first two years of life and ongoing to at least until the age of 5.
Actually, children born to mothers rated in the bottom 20 per cent for prenatal vitamin E consumption were more than fiv5e times more susceptible to asthma as children born to mothers in the top 20 per cent.
Vitamin E very important for early pregnancy
According to the Scottish investigators, children born to mothers with pretty low intake of vitamin E in the course of pregnancy were also at much greater risk for experiencing persistent wheezing in their first five years of life.
The scientists pointed out that a child’s diet at the age of five turns up not to have any influence on their risk of developing asthma.
They emphasized that fetal airways are entirely developed sixteen weeks after the conception. That indicates that some dietary deficiencies in the course of pregnancy - especially early pregnancy - may increase risks for childhood asthma.
"Nevertheless, further studies are necessary in order to confirm that low level of prenatal vitamin E helps develop childhood asthma," Devereux explained. "Due to this reason, Devereux said, the intake of vitamin E supplements is premature for women- at any dosage- to help ward off asthma in their offspring," he said.
Vitamin E is abundant in many staple foods, for example green leafy vegetables, whole grain cereals, vegetable oils, meat, and fish. "The average daily vitamin E needs in adults could be entirely fulfilled if these foods were included in a balanced and healthy diet," Devereux said.
"It needs to be strongly stressed that women ought to eat healthily in the course of pregnancy and not take vitamin E supplements only due to the results of this research," Devereux warned.
Dr Arun Jeyabalan, who is an assistant professor in the division of maternal fetal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh’s Magee Women’s Hospital, agreed.
"This research is extremely significant due to the fact that it is essential to look at associations between nutrient consumption, deficiencies, and potential pregnancy outcomes," she said. "Nonetheless, women need to be very watchful about supplementation. Not all vitamins in high doses are beneficial for anybody, and further research is necessary before supporting any type of vitamin E supplementation."
