Could this vitamin be an asthma patient’s life saver?
Anyone with asthma knows how easily an attack can spiral into a 911 call and a rush to the emergency room.
It happens all the time to millions of kids and adults with asthma every year.
But what if there was something you could take that would cut your risk of an asthma-related hospitalization in half!?
I’m not talking about a new inhaler, or some wonder pill cooked up in a Big Pharma laboratory.
It’s a simple vitamin with practically ZERO side effects — and you can start taking it right away.
If you or someone you love suffers from asthma, this may be the best news you’ve heard in a long time.
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London recently discovered some astounding benefits for asthma patients who use vitamin D supplements. That’s right, vitamin D. The superhero of the vitamin world.
The researchers analyzed seven trials that included 435 children and more than 650 adults with mild to moderate asthma. And two big results in the study were nothing less than remarkable.
1. Using only modest daily doses of just 25 to 50 micrograms of vitamin D, the risk of a severe asthma attack was cut in half!
2. Just as important, the frequency of asthma attacks severe enough for steroid treatment was also knocked down 50 percent.
The trials lasted anywhere from four months to a year, and during that time the volunteers also continued to use their usual asthma medications.
The lead researcher, Professor Adrian Martineau, called the results of the study “some pretty striking positive findings.” And beside the fact that low D levels are linked to increased risk of asthma attacks, he told The Guardian that D has two important actions: it boosts immunity to infections (a simple chest cold will often set off an asthma flare up) and, it controls inflammation.
Of course, Martineau and other experts in the field are obligated to say that more research is necessary. Sure, bring on the research. But in the meantime we already know D to be remarkably effective in supporting heart, brain, bone, and lung health.
So why wait for more studies before adding a vitamin D supplement to your daily routine? Or, at the very least, stepping outside on sunny days for around 10 minutes to allow your body (from exposed areas of skin) to make more D on its own.
And for most people, side effects from vitamin D supplements are virtually nil, even at therapeutic doses 10 and 20 times higher than 50 micrograms.
Along with vitamin D, there are some other non-drug approaches that may lower the threat of a serious asthma attack.
Several years ago, for instance, I told you about a large study of 2,500 volunteers that found adequate vitamin C and magnesium intake was linked with improved lung function in asthma and COPD patients.
In another study with 500 adults in an eight-year follow up, researchers found that beta-carotene also protects lung function.
And just last month I told you how British researchers came across a big breakthrough in treating asthma. They found that prebiotic supplements — plant-based fibers that feed our good gut bacteria — were able to substantially reduce airway inflammation. And those amazing results came about in just three weeks!
As for Vitamin D, you might think of it as the Swiss Army knife of vitamins, with many studies having shown it to help lower your risk of numerous illnesses and diseases (including cancer).
And now, we can add asthma to its resume!
Sources:
“Vitamin D supplements could halve risk of serious asthma attacks” Ian Sample, September 5, 2016, The Guardian, theguardian.com
