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Vitamin D and Managing Asthma

Narinder Duggal, MD, FRCPC

If you have asthma, optimizing your vitamin D level may decrease the severity and symptoms of  your asthma. In addition to reducing indoor and outdoor environmental asthma triggers such as smoke, mold and pet dander, an increased intake of vitamin D may assist in improving asthma symptoms and may assist in reducing the occurence of severe asthma attacks.

Asthma is a serious and potentially life threatening respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for millions of Americans.^1,2 It is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows airways causing chest-tightness, coughing and shortness of breath especially early in the morning or at night. A severe onset of symptoms is known as an asthma attack, which can be life threatening.

Recent studies provide evidence of an association between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity. One of these studies by Dr. J. Celedon included 616 children in Costa Rica. The study results reported  that children with lower vitamin D levels were more likely to have been hospitalized for asthma, had more airway hyperactivity and had used more inhaled corticosteroids.³

Of the 20 million asthmatic people in United States, nearly 9 million are children.⁴ Children have smaller airways than adults, which makes their asthma more serious.⁴ Childhood asthma may be a consequence of vitamin D deficiency, some researchers conclude.⁵ It’s not surprising, since vitamin D is known to have a number of immunological effects. Other vitamin D studies investigated the effect of maternal intake of vitamin D during pregnancy.⁶ These studies suggest that a lower vitamin D intake during pregnancy is  associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis in young children. Some of these studies point towards the participation of vitamin D in lung maturation of the fetus during pregnancy.^5,7 Providing adequate vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy may lead to significant decrease in asthma incidence in young children.⁸

A recent study at National Jewish Health, Denver in 2010 investigated the association between asthma and vitamin D levels.⁹ The results indicated that adults with healthy vitamin D levels had better lung function and responded better to treatment than those with low vitamin D levels.

Chronic asthma causes airway remodeling and a decline in lung function. Airway remodeling is related to  irreversible changes in the airway wall due to inflammation. Studies suggest that vitamin D has a cellular effect on airway smooth muscles. The secosteroidal modulation of Vitamin D receptors helps inhibit the cell proliferation, which may prevent the irreversible narrowing of air passages.¹⁰ Thus, optimal vitamin D levels may prevent long-term damage to airways due to asthma.

Vitamin D is a powerful immune-modulator and an optimal intake of Vitamin D may contribute in several different ways to successfully manage asthma. If you are a sufferer of asthma, ask your health care provider to test your vitamin D blood levels and if Vitamin D10 supplementation from Synergy Therapeutics RX is right for you.

References:

1.    http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Asthma/Asthma_WhatIs.html. (Open Link)
2.    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthma.html. (Open Link)
3.    Brehm JM, Celedon JC, Soto-Quiros ME, et al. Serum vitamin D levels and markers of severity of childhood asthma in Costa Rica. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009;179(9):765-71. (PUBMED Abstract)
4.    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthmainchildren.htm. (Open Link)
5.    Litonjua AA. Childhood asthma may be a consequence of vitamin D deficiency. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2009;9(3):202-7. (PUBMED Abstract)
6.    Erkkola M, Kaila M, Nwaru BI, et al. Maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy is inversely associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis in 5-year-old children. Clin Exp Allergy 2009;39(6):875-82. (PUBMED Abstract)
7.    Perez-Lopez FR. Vitamin D: the secosteroid hormone and human reproduction. Gynecol Endocrinol 2007;23(1):13-24. (PUBMED Abstract)
8.    Litonjua AA, Weiss ST. Is vitamin D deficiency to blame for the asthma epidemic? J Allergy Clin Immunol 2007;120(5):1031-5. (PUBMED Abstract)
9.    Sutherland ER, Goleva E, Jackson LP, et al. Vitamin D Levels, Lung Function and Steroid Response in Adult Asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. (PUBMED Abstract)
10.    Clifford RL, Knox AJ. Vitamin D - a new treatment for airway remodelling in asthma? Br J Pharmacol 2009;158(6):1426-8. (PUBMED Abstract)