Vitamin D deficiency ups odds of asthma exacerbation

(HealthDay)—Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased odds of asthma exacerbations, according to a study published in the December issue of Allergy.

Ronit Confino-Cohen, M.D., from the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel, and colleagues examined the correlations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) level and asthma in a cohort of Israeli adults aged 22 to 50 years. Participants with physician-diagnosed asthma and asthma exacerbation were identified.

The researchers found that 6.9 percent of the 308,000 participants with at least one vitamin D measurement had physician-diagnosed asthma, compared with 5.7 percent in the general population. Serum 25(OH)D levels were similar for those with and without asthma. The odds of having an exacerbation were 25 percent greater for those with vitamin D deficiency than for those with vitamin D levels in the normal range. This significant correlation persisted even after adjustment for confounding variables.

"The presented evidence supports vitamin D screening in the subgroup of asthmatics that are uncontrolled and experience recurrent exacerbations," the authors write.

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