Issue Date: May 31, 2009
Asthma's possible link to vitamin D
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Low levels of this nutrient may worsen asthma.
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Every day, 40,000 Americans miss work or school and nearly 5,000 visit the ER because of asthma. About 20 million suffer from the disease, and its impact is huge, personally and economically. That's why researchers study asthma's various links, looking for any modifiable associations.
Researchers from Harvard, the Medical University of South Carolina and the Hospital Nacional de Ni–os in San José, Costa Rica, recently studied a link between asthma and vitamin D levels. They studied 616 asthmatic kids, ages 6 to 14, and found that low levels of vitamin D were associated with higher levels of IgE and eosinophils (both are markers of immune activity). Also, the children with higher vitamin D levels were less likely to have required treatment in the year before the evaluation. The data suggest a link between low levels of the vitamin and asthma, adding to the growing body of science showing that vitamin D may be important for more than just bone health.
Further research is needed, but in the meantime, you can increase your intake of vitamin D by getting exposure to sunlight, consuming fortified foods such as milk, and eating fatty fish and fish oils.
Tedd Mitchell, M.D., president and CEO of Dallas' Cooper Clinic, writes HealthSmart every week.
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