Vitamin D article

Vitamin D deficiency could put asthmatic children at higher risks for severe asthma attacks compared to asthmatic children with healthy levels of the vitamin.

Reuters Health reported that a recent study by Harvard Medical School in Boston studied 1,024 children with asthma and, during a period of four years, 38 percent of the participants with insufficient levels of Vitamin D sought emergency care or were hospitalized due to severe asthma attacks. Thirty-two percent of the children studied who were not deficient in the vitamin also went to the emergency room for the same cause.

Researchers found that, in general, children with Vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have an asthma attack that required immediate hospital attendance. Previous studies have also linked low levels of the vitamin in both children and adults with a high risk of type 1 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

Re:Fuel is an excellent source of Vitamin D3. ReFuel also contains enzymes that assist in the assimilation of Vitamin D and all other nutrients.

The study’s team took into account other potential factors—severity of the children's asthma at the beginning of the study, weight and family income—but Vitamin D deficiency alone brought a 50 percent increase in risk for severe asthma attacks, Reuters Health reported.

There appears to be a debate about the suggested ideal Vitamin D levels, with particular focus on whether the recommendations should be tailored to children and adults differently, Reuters Health pointed out.

Currently, people are seen as deficient in the vitamin, also known as the sunshine vitamin, if their blood levels drop below 11 nanograms per milliliter.

For the purposes of the study, lead researcher Dr. Augusto A. Litongua and his colleagues considered children with levels of 30 ng/mL or below to be insufficient.

The children involved in the study all had mild-to-moderate asthma and were already participating in a trial testing two inhaled medications to treat their asthma symptoms, Reuters Health reported.

By way of blood samples, the team was able to determine that at the beginning of the four-year-long research 35 percent of the children had insufficient levels of Vitamin D.

Reuters Health reported that the results showed when it came to common, moderate asthma symptoms the child’s level of Vitamin D seemed to make no difference, however it was with the more alarming asthma attacks where the vitamin levels did have an impact.

The team noted that while its findings show some connection between Vitamin D levels and serve asthma symptoms, this does not prove that the vitamin is the cause, or that these attacks can be prevented by taking a vitamin supplement.

However, Litongua and his team reported that it’s possible that Vitamin D potentially affects the severity of asthma attacks.

Vitamin D has a role in healthy bone development and maintenance and is essential for normal nerve, muscle and immune system function.

Researchers reported they suspect the effects Vitamin D has on the immune system may be the explanation as to why high levels of it seemed to lessen the children’s risk of experiencing asthma attacks, Reuters Health reported. Another theory is that the vitamin improves the effects of anti-inflammatory steroid hormones used to control asthma symptoms.

The findings were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The recommendations for infants, children and teenagers is 400 IU of Vitamin D daily, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and intake can be increase by drinking milk and fortified orange juice, and eating foods like breakfast cereals and fatty fish.