Posted on 04/15/2010 11:52:32 AM PDT by decimon
Low levels of vitamin D are associated with lower lung function and greater medication use in children with asthma, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. In a paper published online this week in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Daniel Searing, MD, and his colleagues also reported that vitamin D enhances the activity of corticosteroids, the most effective controller medication for asthma.
"Asthmatic children in our study who had low levels of vitamin D were more allergic, had poorer lung function and used more medications," said Dr. Searing. "Conversely, our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may help reverse steroid resistance in asthmatic children and reduce the effective dose of steroids needed for our patients."
The researchers examined electronic medical records of 100 pediatric asthma patients referred to National Jewish Health. Overall, 47 percent of them had vitamin D levels considered insufficient, below 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL). Seventeen percent of the patients had levels below 20 ng/mL, which is considered deficient. These levels were similar to vitamin D levels found in the general population.
Patients low in vitamin D generally had higher levels of IgE, a marker of allergy, and responded positively to more allergens in a skin prick test. Allergies to the specific indoor allergens, dog and house dust mite, were higher in patients with low vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D also correlated with low FEV1, the amount of air a person can exhale in one second, and lower FEV1/FVC, another measure of lung function. Use of inhaled steroids, oral steroids and long-acting beta agonists were all higher in patients low in vitamin D.
"Our findings suggest two possible explanations," said senior author Donald Leung, MD, PhD. "It could be that lower vitamin D levels contribute to increasing asthma severity, which requires more corticosteroid therapy. Or, it may be that vitamin D directly affects steroid activity, and that low levels of vitamin D make the steroids less effective, thus requiring more medication for the same effect."
The researchers performed a series of laboratory experiments that indicated vitamin D enhances the action of corticosteroids. They cultured some immune cells with the corticosteroid dexamethasone alone and others with vitamin D first, then dexamethasone. The vitamin D significantly increased the effectiveness of dexamethasone. In one experiment vitamin D and dexamethasone together were more effective than 10 times as much dexamethasone alone.
The researchers also incubated immune-system cells for 72 hours with a staphylococcal toxin to induce corticosteroid resistance. Vitamin D restored the activity of dexamethasone.
"Our work suggests that vitamin D enhances the anti-inflammatory function of corticosteroids,' said Dr. Leung. "If future studies confirm these findings vitamin D may help asthma patients achieve better control of their respiratory symptoms with less medication."
###
This study comes on the heels of another paper by National Jewish Health faculty, which showed that low levels of vitamin D in adult asthma patients are associated with lower lung function and reduced responsiveness to corticosteroids.
National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish remains the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish the #1 respiratory hospital in the nation.
Ping.
Oh my goodness! I’ve been taking 8g of Vitamin D per day for some months now and just never made the connection, but it’s true: my asthma, which at times has been life-threatening, has not troubled me in the least. I’ve been gardening despite all the pollen, sleeping with a dog or two, shedding out my horse, hiking, you name it. Am I medication-free? No, but the next thing to it.
P.S.: The National Jewish Research Center is absolutely the best for research into respiratory and immune disorders—the “court of last resort” for the most difficult cases in the U.S. and in the world.
I’ve been around more sick people than you can shake a stick at lately and not a hint of catching anything, I upped my D to 2000mg this year even living in a sunny climate, my massage therapist seems to be sick all the time lately because of having a little grandbaby and she works in that dark room all day, I keep telling her to start taking D...
A follow on study would be to supplement these patients with Vitamin D for a year and track results.
Prediction: In most cases, the supplementation will be useless. If the gut cannot absorb the nutrient, no amount of supplementation will be effective.
Solution: Heal the gut, absorption of essential nutrients and effectiveness of supplementation increases.
www.gapsdiet.com or www.gaps.me
It’s working for us.
Not to bust chops but vitamin D is usually expressed in IUs. Grams and milligrams would likely kill an elephant.
This study measured blood levels of vitamin D.
I’ve been trying to research this, but can’t find a trusted source. does anyone know the safe level of Vitamin D to take daily?
Precisely. That is why the question of whether supplementation would increase those levels, which were low, is relevant. Follow on study: if you supplement for a year, at a high level, and the blood serum levels do not rise, then you have to ask why?
From what I have read on FR and elsewhere - it is all over the place. Most folks (and doctors) think the recommended dose is too low (don’t recall what it is - 1200 units a day?)
I try to remember to take 1000 in the morning and 1000 at night. I seem to recall others are in the 5000+ range per day? A doc can do a test, but I think it is fairly expensive. I also recall folks going to the doc, getting a 30,000+ dose and then followed by typical doses.
I’m sure I’m fuzzy on my actual numbers, but they are all over the place!
8000 mg = 8 grams
You’re absolutely right. I misread the label and should have known better. I wonder what an “international unit” consists of and how it relates to milligrams/micrograms.
"The objective of this review was to apply the risk assessment methodology used by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) to derive a revised safe Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin D. New data continue to emerge regarding the health benefits of vitamin D beyond its role in bone. The intakes associated with those benefits suggest a need for levels of supplementation, food fortification, or both that are higher than current levels. A prevailing concern exists, however, regarding the potential for toxicity related to excessive vitamin D intakes. The UL established by the FNB for vitamin D (50 µg, or 2000 IU) is not based on current evidence and is viewed by many as being too restrictive, thus curtailing research, commercial development, and optimization of nutritional policy. Human clinical trial data published subsequent to the establishment of the FNB vitamin D UL published in 1997 support a significantly higher UL. We present a risk assessment based on relevant, well-designed human clinical trials of vitamin D. Collectively, the absence of toxicity in trials conducted in healthy adults that used vitamin D dose 250 µg/d (10 000 IU vitamin D3) supports the confident selection of this value as the UL."
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/1/6
The Body generates about 20,000+ IUs when bare backed exposure to the sun for 30 minutes, so as long as you are under that amount I would bet you do not have a risk of over dose.
Here’s a thread on Vitamin D:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2423344/posts?page=13
Here’s an interesting link from post 43 (thanks aruanan!):
~LOL~ you’re right.. but I take 2000... seems about right for me... I had just increased what my husband was taking because of his asthma when he died last year, would have been interesting to see how he would have responded.
I’ve been taking vitamin D and it does make a difference. ALA and Acetyle L Carnitine are good also. I would recommend people be careful with Vitamin A I was accidentally taking a bit too much and it was causing headaches.
http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/nutrition/vitamin-a.asp
“Overconsumption of vitamin A can cause nausea, irritability and blurred vision in its mild form. In addition, the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet can turn orange if a person has a high intake of Vitamin A. Vitamin A toxicity can cause growth retardation, hair loss and enlarged spleen and liver in its more severe form. Vitamin A overdose can also cause birth defects and has been linked to increased risk of bone fractures in some people. “
0bummer taxes tanning booths.
See, 0bummerCare is already killing people! But only Whitey.
“ALA and Acetyle L Carnitine are good also.”
I’ve heard good things about Acetyl-L Carnitine. However, I also heard that in rare instances it can lead to renal stones. Have you heard anything about that?
Also, would you mind sharing how much Acetyl-L Carnitine you take?
Thanks.
With regards to vitamins, it depends on the vitamin. I've seen conversion charts and the conversion for each vitamin was different.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.