Taking a vitamin D supplement in parallel to asthma medicine cuts the risk of a severe asthma attack, a new study has found.
An independent review by the Cochrane research body of nine clinical trials found that vitamin D supplementation also cut the rate of asthma attacks needing steroid treatment.
The study shows that severe asthma attacks fell from 6% to 3% in patients who had a vitamin D boost for six months to a year. The supplements were show to reduce the frequency of attacks too.
The Cochrane review’s lead author, Professor Adrian Martineau, told the BBC that its researchers found vitamin D “significantly reduced the risk of severe asthma attacks, without causing side effects”. However, scientists remain unclear whether it only helps patients who are vitamin D deficient.
