Vitamin D3 Supplements Offer Relief for those with Chronic Hives

A study reveals that vitamin D offers relief to those with chronic hives, an allergic skin condition.

Vitamin D can provide relief to people with chronic hives as an add-on therapy,  according to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical College .

The study was led by Jill Poole, M.D., associate professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. In this study, Poole along with his colleagues looked at the role of over-the-counter vitamin D3 as a supplemental treatment for Chronic hive.

Chronic hives (urticaria) are the red or white swollen bumps that crop on the skin surface. They are of different size and appear and disappear. Chronic hives are those that last for over six weeks and cause severe itching. They can appear on the limbs, face, tongue, lips, ears or throat. The cause for this allergy at most time is difficult to identify.

Since the treatment options for this allergy are limited, the study researchers explored various options and finally focused on Vitamin D3.

In the current study, the researchers conducted a study on 38 participants over 12 weeks. The subjects were daily given a triple drug combination of allergy medications that included one prescription and two over-the-counter drugs. They were even given one vitamin D3 that was an over-the -counter supplement. Among the study participants half took 600 IUs of vitamin D3 and the rest took 4000 IUs.

After a week the researchers noticed that severity of the symptoms dropped by 33 percent in both the groups. Whereas after three months, subjects who took 4000 IUs of vitamin D3 noticed a further 40 percent drop in the severity of hives. This was not seen in the group receiving low levels of vitamin D3 treatment.

"We consider the results in patients a significant improvement," Dr. Poole said. "This higher dosing of readily available vitamin D3 shows promise without adverse effects. Vitamin D3 could be considered a safe and potentially beneficial therapy. It was not a cure, but it showed benefit when added to anti-allergy medications. Patients taking the higher dose had less severe hives -- they didn't have as many hives and had a decrease in the number of days a week they had hives."

The study participants had suffered from severe hives from five to 20 years. A few took up therapy treatment while the rest no treatment at all. Though the cause of this skin allergy is not known, medical experts believe that allergy and autoimmune disease play a major role.

"Standard therapy is to control symptoms with antihistamines and other allergy medications," Dr. Poole said. "Some are costly and can pose substantial side effects."

The study was documented in the journal, Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.