Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Severe Asthma Attacks

As many as 6 million U.S. children have asthma, a lung condition that causes difficulty breathing. General symptoms are coughing, shortness of breath, and wheezing.  A normal person takes in air through the nose or mouth, it travels to the trachea, passes through the bronchial tubes, goes into the lungs, and then makes it’s way back to the mouth or nose to be expelled. An asthmatics airway is inflamed, thus producing extra and thickened mucus.   There is also an extra sensitivity to certain irritants (exercise, dust, pollen, cigarette smoke, etc..) These sensitivities cause the smooth muscle around the airway to tighten. The tightening and inflammation combine to narrow the airway and make it very difficult for the child to breathe.

Asthma is cited as being the number one reason for chronic school absences among children and the most common cause of chronic illness pediatric emergency room visits.

This new vitamin D study, by Harvard Medical School in Boston, followed 1,024 mild to moderate asthmatic children over a four year time span. Factors such as weight, family income, severity of asthma from the start, etc.. were all factored in. Vitamin D insufficiency, a vitamin D level of 30 ng/ml or lower, was then linked to a 50% increase in the risk of these children suffering a severe asthma attack that required a hospital visit. 

Overall, the study may be a little perplexing. The researchers found no supporting evidence to support the theory that sufficient vitamin D levels protected children from moderate asthma symptoms. Actually, the children with the lower levels of vitamin D seemed to report fewer moderate symptoms.  On the other hand, the children that were insufficient in vitamin D were at a greater risk of severe asthma attacks. 

The researchers explained that the effect of vitamin D on the immune system, which also includes inflammatory responses, could explain why vitamin D could lower the risk of severe asthma attacks.

You can read the entire report and findings in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.