Vitamin D good for asthma patients

Dr. Gennaro D'Amato of the High Specialty Hospital A Cardarelli in Naples, Italy reported in The Lancet that a 18-year asthmatic male teenager suffered an asthma attack after viewing his ex-girlfriend's profiles, including updates and pictures on Facebook - which offers users a social network service so they can "friend" one another on the site.

Some experts pointed out that Facebook is not to blame for the teen's episode of the asthma attack because stress from any source, after reaching a certain level, could trigger the same asthma attack.

For asthmatic people, it is important that they should not become too emotionally engaged when they use any social networking tool like Facebook.  Also, studies suggest taking vitamin D supplements may help them better control their conditions.

A new study published in the Nov 2010 issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggests that taking vitamin D supplements may help reduce risk of asthma exacerbation in asthmatic people.

The study led by Brehm J. M. and colleagues found those who had insufficient vitamin D, measured as 25-hydrovitamin D, were 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized or admitted to an emergency department for an asthma attack.

The authors from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts wrote in their study report that asthma exacerbations are mostly caused by respiratory tract infections and they are the leading causes of asthma morbidity.  

On the other hand, Vitamin D is known to play a role in innate immunity by helping produce anti-bacterial peptides, which help protect against pathogenic bacteria and viruses.

The study was meant to establish an association between serum levels of vitamin D at baseline and subsequent severe asthma exacerbations during a period of 4-year follow-up.

For the study, the researchers measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in sera collected from 1024 children with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma at baseline, who were randomly assigned to receive budesonide, nedocromil or placebo, that is, the childhood Asthma Management Program.

The authors found 35 percent of all participants were vitamin D insufficient or had 30 ng/mL or lower of 25-hydrovitamin D.  Blacks had the lowest levels while whites had the highest levels of the vitamin.

After adjustment for confounders including age, gender, body mass index, income and treatment group, insufficient vitamin D was correlated with a 50 percent higher risk of an hospitalization or emergency department visit.  The association was statistically significant.

Brehm et al concluded "Vitamin D insufficiency is common in this population of North American children with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma and is associated with higher odds of severe exacerbation over a 4-year period."

Vitamin D plays a role in many chronic diseases because they are involved in regulation of the balance of severe pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses in the immune system.

This is what Mak G and Hanania N.A. from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas said in a review report on the vitamin D status and the risk of asthma, which was published in the Oct 30, 2010 issue of the Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine.

David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton