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Insufficient Vitamin D Increases Asthma Risks

Children With Insufficient Vitamin D Levels May Be At Higher Risk of Developing Asthma, Suggests a New Study.

Vitamin D levels were also associated with increased frequency of hospitalization, according to a study with 616 children in Costa Rica with asthma published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School concluded: "In these children, lower vitamin D levels are associated with increased markers of allergy and asthma severity."

The research team sought to build on previous evidence that low maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy may adversely affect the respiratory health of their children and increase the prevalence of asthma symptoms in early childhood. Vitamin D levels were measured in 616 asthmatic children in Costa Rica aged between 6 and 14.

Vitamin D insufficiency was documented in 175 children. Vitamin D deficiency is when 25(OH)D levels are below 15 ng/ml (37.5 nmol/L).

25(OH)D levels were inversely associated with levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), the predominant antibody associated with an allergic response, said the researchers.

Furthermore an increase in vitamin D levels was associated with reduced odds of any hospitalization in the previous year, any use of anti-inflammatory medications in the previous year, and increased airway responsiveness. The study's results suggest that vitamin D insufficiency is relatively frequent in an equatorial population of children with asthma.

The study adds to an ever growing body of science supporting the benefits of maintaining healthy vitamin D levels. While our bodies do manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during the winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D.

In adults, it is said vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. There is also some evidence that the vitamin may reduce the incidence of several types of cancer and type-1 diabetes.

Source: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Administrator's Note: This article is reprinted here with the permission of Vitamin Power.