Vitamin D May Ease Asthma

[David44]

Not getting enough vitamin D may make asthma worse, according to a new study.

Researchers found that low vitamin D levels were associated with worse lung function compared to higher vitamin D levels in people with asthma.

In addition, the study showed that people with low vitamin D levels didn’t respond as well to asthma treatments compared to people with higher vitamin D levels.

"Our findings suggest that vitamin D levels influence a number of important features of asthma, including lung function, bronchospasm, and therapeutic response to steroids,” researcher E. Rand Sutherland, MD, MPH, chief of the pulmonary division at National Jewish Health in Denver, says in a news release. “The next question to answer is whether giving supplemental vitamin D will lead to clinical improvements in patients with asthma."

Vitamin D is most commonly produced by the skin in response to exposure to sunlight and is also found in some foods.