Does Vitamin D3 Help Asthma

What Is Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a nutrient and building block your body needs to create and maintain healthy bones. Vitamin D helps the body absorb nutrients and amino acids like calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. It is crucial to bone health because the human body can only absorb calcium when vitamin D is present.2

Vitamin D also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help many functions in the body. It can help boost the immune system, muscle function, and brain cell activity.2

Risk Factors Of Asthma

The management of asthma involves controlling the clinical symptoms and maintaining it for a;long term.

Pharmacologic Treatment

It can be divided into two categories: controllers and relievers.

Controllers: They are basically a preventive measure to keep asthma under control and taken daily on long term basis. Sometimes to reach clinical control add-on therapy with another class of controller is preferred over increasing the dose of inhaled corticosteroids .

Relievers: They are fast acting beta2 agonists and are the most effective medication for quick relief of bronchospasm in adults and children .

Respiratory Health Support Strategies:

Here is a list of action steps to take to begin the process of improving respiratory and immune health.;;These strategies are not currently FDA approved to prevent, mitigate, treat or cure asthma and should not be confused as such.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is the first few steps to take and most people will see a significant improvement in overall respiratory health.; You should always discuss any lifestyle change with your physician and this is especially important if you are taking medications.

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Key Supplements For Respiratory And Immune Health:

These 5 nutrients are important for helping to improve the inflammatory response and support respiratory health.; It is important to know that these strategies are not at this time FDA approved to prevent, mitigate, treat or cure asthma and should not be confused as such.

1. Vitamin D3: ;Vitamin D3 is crucial for immune coordination in the body. ;Low levels of vitamin D3 are associated with chronic inflammation, asthma & allergies . ;I recommend getting high quality sun exposure on a regular basis or;supplementing;with 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 with 4.5 mcg of K2 per 25 lbs of body weight daily.

2. ;Probiotics: ;Probiotics play an important role in the gut microbiome and immune coordination. ;Studies have shown that supplemental probiotics are very effective at reducing allergy and asthma symptoms .

3. ;Quercetin & BioFlavonoids: Quercetin, dihydroquercetin and rutin are active bioflavonoids that modulate an exaggerated immune response. Bioflavonoids work synergistically with other antioxidants to protect tissues from the negative effects of oxidation and inflammation often observed during hyperimmune reactions .;;

5. ;Stinging Nettle:;Stinging nettle leaf has been found to regulate a variety of inflammatory activities associated with hyperimmune response, including mast-cell degranulation, prostaglandin formation, and histamine action

Risks Of Vitamin D Consumption

Generally, vitamin D is considered safe when taken in the right doses. The amount of vitamin D you need each day depends on your age. However, taking too much vitamin D can be harmful and cause side effects like:2

• Nausea and vomiting
• Kidney stones

Vitamin D may interact with some medicines, including anticonvulsants, steroids, and stimulative laxatives.2

You cannot get too much vitamin D from sunlight. This is because your skin limits the amount of vitamin D it makes.2

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Study Design And Treatment

The study was a randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled clinical trial, with each participant randomly assigned to either daily placebo capsules or daily vitamin D3, 4000 IU , plus inhaled fluticasone propionate . Eligible participants were screened between February of 2016 and March of 2019 and enrolled if they met inclusion criteria. After a 4-week run-in period in which participants received placebo capsules plus inhaled fluticasone and as-needed inhaled albuterol , those who met inclusion criteria at entry and during run-in were randomized .

Selection of Study Participants

FEV1 indicates forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration.

aSum is greater than 376 because potential participants could fail screening more than once and could fail for more than 1 reason.

bSum is greater than 27 because participants could enter run-in more than once and could fail for more than 1 reason.

Vitamin D For A Healthy Skin And Bones:

According to Dr. Shainhousehealthy levels of vitamin D have been demonstrated to prevent skin aging, promote healthy bone growth, possibly reduce the risk of certain cancers, and even improve mood.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is responsible for calcium homeostasis and bone health, explains Los Angeles-based board-certified dermatologist Tsippora Shainhouse, MD, FAAD. Vitamin D increases the efficiency of calcium and phosphorus absorption from the small intestine and aids in the maturation of osteoclasts in the bone.

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Questions To Ask Your Asthma Specialist

Here are a set of questions that we recommend that you discuss with your asthma specialist:;

• Could Vitamin D deficiency be playing a role in your symptoms of coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and/or flares of asthma?
• Should you be tested for Vitamin D deficiency?
• Should you take Vitamin D supplements ?
• What are the best choices for treatment with Vitamin D supplements?

Vitamin D Dose Recommendations

Generally, 35 IUs of vitamin D per pound of body weight is the recommended average dose.

Check out the chart below for more information:

Although these are general recommendations, testing your blood for vitamin D really is the only reliable way to know how much vitamin D you or your little one needs.

ALWAYS speak with your physician before starting any sort of supplementation.

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How Can It Benefit People With Asthma

Multiple studies show that vitamin D can improve lung function in people with asthma. Because of this positive relationship, vitamin D may be a helpful supplemental therapy.3

Studies show vitamin D helps boost immune responses to viruses that trigger asthma attacks. It also decreases inflammatory responses.1

Inflammation is the root of the problem in asthma. It makes the airways sensitive to triggers like allergens, mold, chemicals, and viruses. The airways react to these triggers by becoming narrow. In turn, this makes breathing difficult.4

Data Sources And Study Selection

An electronic search was conducted in the following databases: OVID, MEDLINE, Web of Science and PUBMED, for studies published up to 10th October 2018 using the key words asthma, vitamin D, and lung function. The search strategy was developed by two investigators in duplicate and independently according to standardised and pilot-tested selection criteria. Review articles and reference lists of observational publications were manually searched for any possible supplementary references. Any dispute was resolved by mutual consensus with a third investigator.

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Vitamin D In Children With Asthma

Evidence for vitamin D use in children with asthma is conflicting.

Research shows that having a mother who has asthma is a strong risk factor for her children also having the condition. In a study of pregnant women and their children, researchers found vitamin D taken throughout pregnancy notably reduced the rates of asthma in the children before their third birthday.5

However, the findings of a 2020 study on children with persistent asthma and low vitamin D levels did not support the use of vitamin D supplementation to prevent severe asthma attacks.6

Design Setting And Participants

The Vitamin D to Prevent Severe Asthma Exacerbations Study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of vitamin D3 supplementation to improve the time to severe exacerbations in high-risk children with asthma aged 6 to 16 years taking low-dose inhaled corticosteroids and with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL. Participants were recruited from 7 US centers. Enrollment started in February 2016, with a goal of 400 participants; the trial was terminated early due to futility, and follow-up ended in September 2019.

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Vitamin D And Asthma Pathogenesis

A study conducted by Gupta, et al. was the pioneer research in concluding that serum vitamin D levels were found to be lowest among children with steroid resistant asthma with reduced lung function, increased corticosteroid use, and asthma exacerbations. The probable reason for this is because low vitamin D levels increase;the airway smooth muscle and reduce;lung function in severe asthma .

Evidence from Observational Studies

Vitamin D is only used for primary prevention for asthma but it also has a role in asthma exacerbation. A cross-sectional study of 616 asthmatic children in Costa Rica between the ages of 6 and 14 years, reported that vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency was prevalent in 28% of the children and increased levels of vitamin D were related with reduction in asthma exacerbations and reduced visits to emergency department . A 4-year longitudinal study was conducted by Brehm, et al. to establish causal relations between serum vitamin D levels and asthma exacerbations in 1024 North American asthmatic children with mild to moderate asthma . This study confirmed that less levels of vitamin D had increased risk of asthma exacerbations . In addition, the study also concluded that children with vitamin D insufficiency had higher chances of asthma exacerbation .

What Does This Mean For People With Asthma

If you have asthma, you may want to speak with your asthma care provider about checking your vitamin D levels. If you are deficient, talk to your provider to see if it might be worth trying a supplement.

Vitamin D is NOT an asthma treatment and NEVER replaces your prescription medicine. It will not make your lungs function better or treat day-to-day asthma symptoms. If you and your doctor decide you should take a vitamin D supplement, you must also take your prescribed asthma medicine. You should not take vitamin D with certain medicines, so talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Read package inserts to make sure there arent any interactions.

Scientists need to conduct more studies about vitamin Ds effects on children.

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Vitamin D Supplementation Fails To Improve Time To Severe Asthma Exacerbation In Children

Disclosures: We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact .

Vitamin D supplementation, compared with placebo, did not improve time to severe asthma exacerbation in children with persistent asthma and low vitamin D levels, according to new data published in JAMA.

While observational studies have reported associations between low vitamin D levels and childhood asthma outcomes, randomized clinical trials have provided less encouraging evidence of a protective effect of vitamin D3 supplementation against morbidity from asthma,Erick Forno, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, and colleagues wrote.

Researchers conducted the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled VDKA trial to assess the benefit of vitamin D supplementation compared with placebo. Researchers enrolled children with asthma who were taking low-dose inhaled corticosteroids and had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL. Enrollment began in 2016 and the trial was terminated early due to futility in March 2019; follow-up ended in September 2019.

Participants were randomly assigned to vitamin D3 4,000 IU per day or placebo for 48 weeks, and maintained with fluticasone propionate .

In total, 192 participants were randomly assigned to vitamin D supplementation or placebo ; 180 completed the trial.

Reference:

The Role Of Vitamin D3

Another surprising thing about vitamin D3? Its not actually a vitamin, but a pro-hormone. Its considered a pro-hormone because the body is able to produce it on its own by absorbing sunlight on the skin.

Other vitamins and nutrients are unable to be produced by the body and therefore must be obtained via diet and supplements. The body needs to store a healthy amount of vitamin D in order absorb phosphorous and be able to maintain normal levels of calcium. In fact, vitamin D is essential to many functions in the body:

• Vitamin D is necessary for the maintenance of strong bones and healthy teeth.
• Keeping a healthy store of vitamin D gives added protection to such diseases as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes.
• Helps with diabetes management and maintaining healthy insulin levels.
• Vitamin D offers immune support as well as protection to the nervous system and the brain.
• Vitamin D is essential to the health of the lungs and cardiovascular system.
• Helps inhibit the development of cancer.

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Vitamin D Supplementation: Can It Really Help Treat Asthma

But whether vitamin D supplements are effective for symptoms of asthma is debatable. Earlier this year, MNT reported on a study published in JAMA, in which researchers claimed that for people with asthma, vitamin D supplements do not improve symptoms or treatment.

In adults with persistent asthma and lower vitamin D levels, treatment with vitamin D3 did not reduce the rate of first treatment failure or exacerbation. These findings do not support a strategy of therapeutic vitamin D3 supplementation in patients with symptomatic asthma, the researchers of that study wrote.

The team involved in this latest study, however, suggest the opposite, noting that it is frustrating that prevalence of asthma is not declining when so much is known about how to treat the illness and reduce its effects on patients lives. Increasing vitamin D levels is something we can easily do to improve patients quality of life, adds Dr. Confino-Cohen.

MNT recently reported on a study suggesting that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of poor brain function among patients who have been resuscitated after sudden cardiac arrest.

Studies With Vitamin D And Eczema

Randomized controlled trial using vitamins E and D supplementation in atopic dermatitis

In 2011, a study was conducted to assess the effects of vitamins D and E supplementation in eczema patients. 45 eczema patients were included in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment where each were treated for 60 days. Separate vitamin D groups and vitamin E groups each saw an improvement in the intensity and amount of eczema around 35%. But together, when 1600 IU of vitamin D3 and 600 IU of vitamin E were given together, patients improved by 64%!!

The study revealed that there were notable effects and benefits in supplementing vitamin D for eczema patients and even more so when given together with vitamin E.

Eczema treated by 1600 IU of vitamin D

In December 2016 a systematic review was conducted in order to compile results from various past studies on vitamin D and eczema.

They looked at four randomized controlled trials, including the one mentioned just above, and they were able to discover that serum vitamin D levels were generally lower in eczema patients, but especially so in children. And all studies they reviewed indicated that vitamin D helped to improve a patients eczema overall.

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Optimize Your Vitamin D3 Levels:

Vitamin D is more of a hormone than it is a vitamin. Hormones interact with cells directly to elicit specific biological processes. Low vitamin D3 is associated with chronic inflammation and autoimmune conditions.; Vitamin D is arguably one of the most powerful nutrients responsible for modulating and coordinating the;immune;system.

Sunshine is the best way to get enough vitamin D, however, our indoor lifestyle and in some places, cold climate and cloudy weather, makes it practically impossible to meet all your requirements.; Taking a good quality vitamin D3 supplement on a regular basis and testing your 25-OH vitamin D3 levels a few times a year to make sure it is in the optimal 50-100 ng/mL range is recommended.

Daily Recommended Dose Of Vitamin D Intake:

• Infants 0 6 months: Dietary Allowance : 400 Upper-Level Intake : 1,000
• Infants 6 12 months: Dietary Allowance : 400 Upper-Level Intake : 1,500
• 1 3 years old: Dietary Allowance : 600 Upper-Level Intake : 2,500
• 4 8 years old: Dietary Allowance : 600 Upper-Level Intake : 3,000
• 9 70 years old: Dietary Allowance : 600 Upper-Level Intake : 4,000
• Over 70 years old: Recommended Dietary Allowance : 800 Upper-Level Intake : 4,000
• 14 50 years old, pregnant/lactating: Dietary Allowance : 600 Upper-Level Intake : 4,000

Institute of Medicine, released 11/30/2010

Vitamin D can be taken from the diet and exposure to sunlight. Please remember information on our blog is not designed or meant to replace a physicians advice. It is always; recommended to consult your doctor about the medical conditions.;

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Vitamin D Deficiency Linked To Increased Risk Of Asthma Attacks

Adults with asthma who have vitamin D deficiency may be much more likely to experience asthma attacks. This is according to a new study by researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel.

This is not the first study to link vitamin D deficiency with asthma severity. In 2012, Medical News Today reported on a study claiming asthmatic children with low vitamin D levels have poorer lung function. But the authors of this latest study say previous research suggesting such associations has been conflicting.

Vitamin D has significant immunomodulatory effects and, as such, was believed to have an effect on asthma an immunologically mediated disease, notes study author Dr. Ronit Confino-Cohen, of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University.

But most of the existing data regarding vitamin D and asthma came from the pediatric population and was inconsistent, he adds. Our present study is unique because the study population of young adults is very large and uncontaminated by other diseases.

The research team assessed the medical records of almost 4 million individuals aged 22-50 who were members of Clalit Health Services the largest health care provider in Israel.

The vitamin D levels of 307,900 individuals were measured. Among these, 21,237 people had physician-diagnosed asthma.

These findings remained even after the team accounted for other risk factors for asthma, such as obesity, smoking and co-existing chronic illnesses.