Using preserved blood samples of pregnant women, researchers have found that low vitamin D levels are associated with an increased risk for severe preeclampsia, a serious and sometimes fatal disorder of pregnancy.

Preeclampsia is characterized by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine.

The study, published online in Epidemiology, used 3,703 blood samples taken between 1959 and 1966 from women at an average of 21 weeks gestation. More than half of the women had vitamin D levels lower than 50 nanomoles per liter, which the National Institutes of Health considers inadequate for overall health, and 717 had mild or severe preeclampsia.

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