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Taking oral vitamin D supplements in addition to standard asthma medication could reduce the risk of asthma attacks requiring hospital attendance.
Asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is estimated to cause almost 400,000 deaths annually.
Asthma deaths arise primarily during episodes of acute worsening of symptoms, known as attacks which are commonly triggered by viral upper respiratory infections. Vitamin D is thought to protect against such attacks by boosting immune responses to respiratory viruses and dampening down harmful airway inflammation.
Researchers analysed data from many participants in seven randomised controlled trials, which tested the use of vitamin D supplements. They discovered that vitamin D supplementation resulted in:
a 30 per cent reduction in the rate of asthma attacks requiring treatment with steroid tablets or injections – from 0.43 events per person per year to 0.30.
a 50 per cent reduction in the risk of experiencing at least one asthma attack.
Vitamin D supplementation was found to be safe at the doses administered. 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.
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