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Last Updated: Dec 27th, 2006 - 19:07:47 |
Vitamin D may play an important role in keeping the lungs healthy, with greater concentrations of vitamin D resulting in greater lung health benefits, suggests a new University of Auckland study of 14,091 people.
The study, published in the December issue of CHEST, found that patients with high concentrations of vitamin D in their blood tended to have significantly better lung function compared to those lower concentrations.
The difference between high levels and low levels of vitamin D was more significant than that between smok ers and those who had quit smo king.
"Our research shows that vitamin D may also have a strong influence on lung function, with greater levels of vitamins D associated with greater and more positive effects on lung function," lead investigator Dr. Peter Black said.
Black and his team analyzed data from 14,000 persons aged 20 or older, who participated in the U.S. Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) between 1988 and 1994.
Those with highest levels of vitamin D in their blood significantly outperformed others in lung function tests, that is, the FEV1 test and the FVC test. The former measures "the volume of air that can be forced in one second after taking a deep breath" while the latter measures "the total volume of air that is expelled after taking a deep breath," according to BBC News.
Researchers found men had higher levels of vitamin D than women. In addition, obesity and advanced age lowered the concentration of vitamin D in the blood.
“Vitamin D also was lower in non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican-Americans, compared with non-Hispanic whites, and it was lower in participants smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day compared with nonsmokers,” American College of Chest Physicians states in a press release.
Researchers suggested vitamin D may affect the repair and remodeling of lung tissues and dietary supplements may help protect against lung disease or lung disorders or at least help better breathing.
But the study could in no way indicate a causal relationship of vitamin D with lung function.
Although the study pointed to a possibility that high vitamin D may have a positive effect on lung health, “it is unclear if increases in vitamin D through supplements or dietary intake will actually improve lung function in patients with chronic respiratory diseases," Black said.
The current finding seems consistent with an earlier study from Harvard University, which also associated vitamin D with lung health. Wei Zhou and colleagues reported in April, 2005 at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) that “successful outcomes for surgery to treat early stage lung cancer appear to depend on the level of vitamin D present in a patient - a calculation that includes food sources, supplements, as well as the season of the year during which the operation is performed,” according to the AACR.
Zhou et al also found “Patients with high vitamin D intake who had surgery in months with lots of sun were more than twice as likely to be alive five years after surgery, compared to patients with low vitamin D intake who had wintertime operations.”
The mechanism for this effect remains also unknown. Previous studies have suggested that sufficient Vitamin D may inhibit a variety of different cancer.
Vitamin D, widely known for its association with osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes and some types of cancer, has been called sunshine vitamin because it can be formed in the human body after exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D sources include fortified milk, eggs and oily fish such as cod liver oil. Those who intend to use a vitamin D supplement should be careful because vitamin D overdose can be toxic.
© 2004-2005 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified
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