Researchers Warn About Using Vitamin D To Treat Childhood Asthma

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In this undated image, an asthma inhaler is seen dispensing a dose of a drug. A report released on May 3, 2005, to mark World Asthma Day claims that one person dies from asthma every hour in Western Europe.

Have you heard about vitamin D as a treatment for childhood asthma? Have you tried it for your child? Well, if you have don't expect too much because a study that challenges past research says Vitamin D supplements do not prevent severe asthma attacks in children.

According to Dr. Juan Celedón, the study lead author said that there are colleges across the nation and around the world who test vitamin D levels for kids who have asthma. Celedón, who is also the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Chief of pediatric pulmonary medicine, added that it costs a considerable amount of money to do all these tests and provide the supplements. 

In the hospital's news release, the doctor added, they've shown no benefit for kids with moderately low levels of vitamin D.

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Vitamin D as Suggested in a Previous Study

While previous observational study proposed that vitamin D could lower the severity of an asthma attack, this, according to reports, is the first placebo-controlled clinical test to investigate if such a finding is factual. 

The three-year research involved almost 200 kids, with ages ranging from six to 17 years across seven U.S. hospital systems. All children had at least one asthma attack during the year prior to the onset of the study. 

Fifty-percent of the participants were given 4,000 IU of vitamin D each day, and the other 50 percent were given placebo pills. None among those involved in the research knew which particular medication either child was receiving.

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Vitamin D vs. Placebo Pills

The study, which the Journal of the American Medical Association published in late August indicates, children who were given the supplements did not encounter fewer asthma attacks or became less dependent on inhaled steroids compared to those who receive placebos.

However, past observational research found that kids who had low levels of vitamin D appeared to have worse asthma. Nonetheless, with such studies, Celedón explained, no one knows if low vitamin D causes asthma to worsen or whether children who experience worse attacks have lower levels of vitamin D.

2016 Research Finding

A 2016 study found that oral vitamin D supplement lowered the risk of severe attacks of asthma, necessitating hospital confinement from six to roughly three percent.

Researchers of the said research also found that vitamin D supplementation lowered the rate of such attacks needing steroid tablets for treatment.

The difference of this study from the recently done research was that the supplement was tested in adults. They found that vitamin D did not provide improvement in lung function or typical symptoms of asthma and that the supplement did not increase the danger of side effects at the doses they were given.

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Check out more news and information on Vitamin D and Asthma on MD News Daily.