Asthma attacks can be reduced by taking Vitamin D tablets
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects around 300 million people around the world, often giving symptoms of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath.
The world’s 300 million asthma sufferers could help reduce their risk of severe asthma attacks by taking vitamin D supplements as well as their standard asthma medicines, according to the findings of a review of international trial evidence.
The analysis – which covered trials in the United States, Canada, India, Japan, Poland and Britain – found that taking vitamin D tablets cut the risk of severe asthma attacks needing hospital treatment to around 3 percent from 6 percent.
They also found vitamin D supplementation reduced the rate of asthma attacks needing treatment with steroid tablets, without causing side effects.
The researchers looked at nine recent clinical trials – seven involving 435 children and two studies involving 658 adults, lasting up to a year.
Its lead author, Professor Adrian Martineau, said: “We found that taking a vitamin D supplement in addition to standard asthma treatment significantly reduced the risk of severe asthma attacks, without causing side effects. This is an exciting result.”
Mr Adrian added
that there were limits to the study in order to find out whether vitamin D reduces risks of asthma attacks for all asthma sufferers.He added: “Some caution is warranted. First, the findings relating to severe asthma attacks come from just three trials: most of the patients enrolled in these studies were adults with mild or moderate asthma.
He said further analyses were on-going and results should be available in the next few months.
Dr Erika Kennington, Asthma UK’s head of research, said: “While this research shows promise, more evidence is needed to conclusively show whether Vitamin D can reduce asthma attacks and symptoms.
“With so many different types of asthma it could be that Vitamin D may benefit some people with the condition but not others. Asthma UK’s research centres are working hard to discover how and why Vitamin D affects asthma symptoms and if it could be a potential treatment in the future.”
Prof Martineau pointed out that in the study, vitamin D was added on to asthma medication the patients were already taking. He explained: “We don’t want people giving up taking their asthma treatment.”
He also warned against taking vitamin D without advice.
“Going to see your GP is a key part of the message we 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.”
Dr Rebecca Normansell, a GP from the Cochrane body, said asthma patients are not routinely tested for their vitamin D levels, but following further study “it may be that that will be something that we should be considering as a reason to test vitamin D”.
“Talking with your pharmacist or GP is a great place to start as there may be other things that could be done for you as well to improve your asthma beyond thinking about your vitamin D,” she said.
Dr Imran Rafi, from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), called the research “encouraging”.
“However, more work still needs to be done in gathering the evidence, particularly around effectiveness for young people and children – especially as it currently affects as many as one in 11 children.”
He said he looked forward to seeing the results of further clinical trials to get a better understanding of this potential method of treatment.
“It is important to remember that not every drug is suitable for every patient and if a patient has asthma, they shouldn’t make any changes to their medication without first discussing it with their family doctor.”
