Sun protects against childhood asthma. Vitamin D, which is primarily absorbed from the sun, plays a role in protection against childhood asthma. Now, a new study led by Valencian researchers has shown that children who live in colder, wetter cities are at greater risk of suffering from this respiratory problem, since there are fewer hours of sunlight in such places. "Prolonged exposure to the sun can cause cancer, but it's also dangerous to avoid it. There has to be a balance between the pros and cons," says Alberto Arnedo-Pena, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Centre in Castellón and lead author of the research, which is part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), led by Luis García Marcos of the University of Murcia.
In fact, 90% of our vitamin D is synthesised through exposure to the sun. This vitamin, which can be found in various cell receptors, is usually found at lower levels in people with asthma. The solar vitamin. Low levels of vitamin D linked to higher rates of asthma in African-American kids. Researchers at Children's National Medical Center have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy African American children.
This study supports recent research that suggests vitamin D plays a greater role in the body than just keeping bones healthy. Vitamin D deficiency has been recently linked to a variety of non-bone related diseases including depression, autoimmune disorders, and now asthma. "It's been well-documented that as a group, African Americans are more likely than other racial groups to have low levels of vitamin D," said Robert Freishtat, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician and lead author on the study. "But we were shocked to see that almost all of the African American children with asthma that we tested had low vitamin D levels. Vitamin D Levels Linked To Asthma Severity. New research provides evidence for a link between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity. Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
While previous in vitro studies have suggested that vitamin D may affect how airway cells respond to treatment with inhaled steroids, this is the first in vivo study of vitamin D and disease severity in children with asthma. Juan Celedón, M.D., Dr. P.H. and Augusto Litonjua, M.D., M.P.H. of Harvard Medical School and colleagues recruited 616 children with asthma living in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, a country known to have a high prevalence of asthma. Vitamin D deficiency linked with airway changes in children with severe asthma.
Children with severe therapy-resistant asthma (STRA) may have poorer lung function and worse symptoms compared to children with moderate asthma, due to lower levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to researchers in London. Lower levels of vitamin D may cause structural changes in the airway muscles of children with STRA, making breathing more difficult. The study provides important new evidence for possible treatments for the condition. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "This study clearly demonstrates that low levels of vitamin D are associated with poorer lung function, increased use of medication, worse symptoms and an increase in the mass of airway smooth muscle in children with STRA," said Atul Gupta, MRCPCH, M.D., a researcher from Royal Brompton Hospital and the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) at Imperial College and King's College London.
Vitamin D and Chronic Lung Disease: A Review of Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Studies. + Author Affiliations ↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vin.tangpricha@emory.edu. Abstract Vitamin D is classically recognized for its role in calcium homeostasis and skeletal metabolism. Over the last few decades, vitamin D deficiency has increased in prevalence in adults and children.
Potential extraskeletal effects of vitamin D have been under investigation for several diseases. Several cross-sectional studies have associated lower vitamin D status with decreased lung function. Introduction Vitamin D is a seco-steroid hormone important in bone mineralization and calcium homeostasis. There have been numerous studies looking at vitamin D status in association with various lung diseases focusing on asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), and respiratory infections.
Physiology of vitamin D Figure 1 The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been increasing in the general population in recent decades. Asthma Table 1. Epidemiology Table 2. Vitamin D Could Prevent Mold Allergies. Research has discovered that vitamin D may be an effective therapeutic agent to treat or prevent allergy to a common mold. Aspergillus fumigatus, is one of the most prevalent fungal organisms inhaled by people. In asthmatics and in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, it can cause significant allergic symptoms. According to Physorg: “The researchers focused on Th2 cells -- the hormonal messengers of T-helper cells that produce an allergic response ...
The researchers discovered that heightened Th2 reactivity ... correlated with a lower average blood level of vitamin D.” Aspergillus fumigatus is a very common mold in home environments, where it’s known for taking up residence in unsuspecting locations like your bedroom pillows. Vitamin D Fights Mold Allergies In their study, the researchers found that vitamin D not only reduced the production of a protein driving the allergic response to mold, it also increased production of the proteins that promote tolerance.
Practical Tips for Mold Allergies.