Vitamin D deficiency in veiled Kuwaiti women.

OBJECTIVE

To study vitamin D deficiency in veiled Kuwaiti women.

DESIGN

Prospective on cases and volunteers.

SETTING

The medical department in a general hospital in Kuwait serving about 300000 persons (Adan Hospital).

SUBJECTS

The authors saw four cases of unexplained vitamin D deficiency osteomalacia in otherwise healthy veiled Kuwaiti women. This stimulated us to study 50 veiled volunteer Kuwaiti women aged between 14 and 45 years old who had three children or less, and 22 unveiled volunteer Kuwaiti women with matched age and number of children as control.

INTERVENTIONS

Blood samples were taken to check levels of 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase. Blood urea, serum creatinine, serum bilirubin, serum alanine transaminase, serum aspartate transaminase, serum lactic dehydroginase, prothrombin time, urine for proteins and pH were checked to exclude renal and hepatic disease.

RESULTS

showed subclinical vitamin D deficiency among veiled women and two cases of clinically overt osteomalacia were discovered among the veiled volunteers suggesting a high prevalence of the disease among veiled Kuwaiti women.