Researchers have discovered that asthma sufferers with low levels of vitamin D may experience more acute attacks.
Writing in the journal Allergy, researchers explained they set out to assess the associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and prevalent asthma as well as asthma exacerbations.
A group of Israeli adults aged 22–50 with documented vitamin D status were involved. Around 308,000 members with at least one vitamin D measurement were included and among them, 6.9 per cent had physician-diagnosed asthma as opposed to 5.7 per cent in the general population. Serum 25-OHD levels across both groups were similar. However, among those with vitamin D deficiency, the odds of having an exacerbation were 25 per cent greater compared to those with levels in the normal range.
“While there was no significant association between vitamin D status and physician-diagnosed asthma, there was a strong association with asthma exacerbations. The presented evidence supports vitamin D screening in the subgroup of asthmatics that are uncontrolled and experience recurrent exacerbations,” the researchers concluded.