<p>Vitamin D supplements along with standard medication may halve the risk of suffering a severe asthma attack requiring hospital attendance, a study claims.<br /><br />Asthma deaths arise primarily during episodes of acute worsening of symptoms, known as attacks or 'exacerbations', which are commonly triggered by viral upper respiratory infections, researchers said.<br /><br />Vitamin D is thought to protect against such attacks by boosting immune responses to respiratory viruses and dampening down harmful airway inflammation, they said.<br /><br />Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in the UK analysed data from 955 participants in seven randomised controlled trials, which tested the use of vitamin D supplements.<br /><br />The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, found that vitamin D supplementation resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in the rate of asthma attacks requiring treatment with steroid tablets or injections.<br /><br />Researchers also found that the supplementation resulted in a 50 per cent reduction in the risk of experiencing at least one asthma attack requiring hospitalisation - from six per cent of people experiencing such an event to three per cent.<br /><br />Vitamin D supplementation was found to be safe at the doses administered.<br /><br />No instances of excessively high calcium levels or renal stones were seen, and serious adverse events were evenly distributed between participants taking vitamin D and those on placebo, researchers said.<br /><br />"These results add to the ever growing body of evidence that vitamin D can support immune function as well as bone health," said lead researcher, Adrian Martineau, professor at QMUL.<br /><br />"Vitamin D is safe to take and relatively inexpensive so supplementation represents a potentially cost-effective strategy to reduce this problem," Martineau added.</p>
<p>Vitamin D supplements along with standard medication may halve the risk of suffering a severe asthma attack requiring hospital attendance, a study claims.<br /><br />Asthma deaths arise primarily during episodes of acute worsening of symptoms, known as attacks or 'exacerbations', which are commonly triggered by viral upper respiratory infections, researchers said.<br /><br />Vitamin D is thought to protect against such attacks by boosting immune responses to respiratory viruses and dampening down harmful airway inflammation, they said.<br /><br />Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in the UK analysed data from 955 participants in seven randomised controlled trials, which tested the use of vitamin D supplements.<br /><br />The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, found that vitamin D supplementation resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in the rate of asthma attacks requiring treatment with steroid tablets or injections.<br /><br />Researchers also found that the supplementation resulted in a 50 per cent reduction in the risk of experiencing at least one asthma attack requiring hospitalisation - from six per cent of people experiencing such an event to three per cent.<br /><br />Vitamin D supplementation was found to be safe at the doses administered.<br /><br />No instances of excessively high calcium levels or renal stones were seen, and serious adverse events were evenly distributed between participants taking vitamin D and those on placebo, researchers said.<br /><br />"These results add to the ever growing body of evidence that vitamin D can support immune function as well as bone health," said lead researcher, Adrian Martineau, professor at QMUL.<br /><br />"Vitamin D is safe to take and relatively inexpensive so supplementation represents a potentially cost-effective strategy to reduce this problem," Martineau added.</p>