In recent years, the proportion of elderly people, including women in the perimenopausal period, has increased. The quality of their life in this period gets worse as a result of the appearance of climacteric symptoms.
The insufficiency and deficiency of vitamin D in women in the perimenopausal period, according to modern studies, play a significant role in the pathogenesis of lesions of almost all systems of our organism, development of cancer, autoimmune diseases. The increase in the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is observed in the population of women of the perimenopausal period of life as a consequence of the climacteric syndrome and in the future contributes to the formation of health problems in this population. Climatological and geographical characteristics of habitation, social factors also influence distribution of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency.
The increase in the proportion of diseases associated with the extinction of hormonal activity emphasizes the relevance of studies on the peculiarities of the perimenopausal period in women in our country, including the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency.
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D among the patients who applied for medical aid for a variety of pathologies, including among the female population of the perimenopausal period with extragenital pathology in the Lviv region of Ukraine. Clinical, immunological, statistical methods are used to achieve the aim.
The study involved 195 middle-aged 25.7 years old, with a significantly higher proportion of women (77.4 ± 3.0) %, ages ranging from 6 to 75 years. 57 women of the perimenopausal period were examined: almost a third in the structure of the general group. Serologic studies determined the level of vitamin D in serum in all groups. To evaluate the results, two groups were identified: women of the perimenopausal period (p.1) and control: women of other age groups (p.2). It was established that the proportion of people with the revealed physiological levels of vitamin D in the general group of the subjects was ((7.2 ± 1.9) %), 49 patients showed insufficient ((25.1 ± 3.1) %)) and 132 ((67,7 ± 3,4) %)) – deficiency of the given hormone.
Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are prevalent among the entire population of the region, as the ratio of the proportion of people with these indicators to the prevalence of physiological levels was 1: 3.5: 9.4.
Only one fifth of the total group of examined women had physiological levels of vitamin D in serum. Indicators ranged from 51.1 to 72.12. When comparing two samples with respect to the norm of reliable difference of indicators, t = 1,3; p < 0,05, but the relative chance of avoiding the disorders is lower in group 1 (RR = 2,4).
In a significant number of women, a general lack of vitamin D was detected ((27,2 ± 3,6)%), with an incidence of 30,09-47,87. The relative risk was 1.4 times higher in group 1, but with a further analysis using Student’s criterion (t = 0.5; p < 0.05), there was no difference in chance to have vitamin D deficiency in the patients of both groups studied.
Two-thirds of women in both comparison groups who were included in the study found vitamin D deficiency. Its serum levels ranged from <2 to 29.95. There was a slight predominance of absolute and relative risks in group 1 for comparison with women of other age groups, but no significant difference was found.
Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is common in all groups of people involved in the study, which requires population monitoring to determine the role of vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency in the formation of pathology of the population in the studied areas. Such a tendency is extremely dangerous for women in the perimenopausal period, since the complex of negative influences on the body of a woman at this time is potentiated by the insufficiency/deficiency of vitamin D formed during previous years of life.
Recieved: 12.02.2018
Keywords: perimenopausal period, vitamin D, insufficiency, deficiency, prevalence
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