Vitamin D Would Likely Reduce Severe Asthma Attacks

Vitamin D supplements together with asthma medications could reduce the risk of severe asthma attacks, a review of scientific studies suggests. The researchers reviewed the evidence in clinical trials whether asthma is controlled with vitamin D supplements.

The Cochrane Review was printed in the Cochrane Library on September 6, 2016. It was also presented at the ERS International Congress, according to Web MD.

The research involved 435 children and 658 adults from Canada, U.K., Japan, U.S., Poland and India. Most of the participants had mild to restrained asthma with a smaller number having severe asthma. The team asked them to take vitamin D alongside with the usual asthma medication. The studies lasted for six to twelve months.

The results indicated that taking vitamin D lessened the risk of severe asthma attacks with fewer hospitalization or emergency room visits from 6 percent to 3 percent. They also discovered that the rate of asthma attacks needing steroid treatment reduced from 0.44 to 0,28 attacks per person per year. No side effects are recorded with the intake of the vitamin D doses given, On the other hand, they found that vitamin D did not enhance lung function or day-to-day asthma symptoms, according to BBC.

Dr. Erika Kennington, the Asthma's UK's head of research stated that while this research shows promise, more evidence is needed to show whether vitamin D can reduce asthma attacks symptoms. She further said that with so many various types of asthma it could be that Vitamin D may benefit some people with the condition but not others. She added that Asthma's UK's research centers are working hard to discover how and why vitamin D affects asthma symptoms and if it could be a potential treatment in the future.

Likewise, Professor Martineau warned against taking vitamin D without advice. He said that going to see your GP is a key part of the message they want to give. "I don't think it would be appropriate to just start taking vitamin D without knowing whether you have vitamin D deficiency or not and we don't yet know what the threshold of vitamin D is below which you will have a benefit."