Asthma attacks associated with low vitamin D– systematic review

Created May 2015

The role of circulating 25 hydroxyvitamin D in asthma: a systematic review

Volume 70, Issue 4, pages 339–354, April 2015, DOI: 10.1111/all.12583

R. Cassim1, M. A. Russell1, C. J. Lodge1,2, A. J. Lowe1,2, J. J. Koplin1,2 andS. C. Dharmage1,2,*

Asthma is a major public health issue. The co-occurrence of the high prevalence of asthma and vitamin D deficiency documented globally in recent decades has prompted several investigations into a possible association between the two conditions. The objective of this paper was to synthesize the evidence from studies that have measured the association between serum vitamin D and asthma incidence, prevalence, severity and exacerbations. A systematic search of the literature was performed in PubMed, and the available evidence was summarized both qualitatively and by meta-analysis. Only English language, observational studies measuring serum levels of 25(OH)D as the exposure were included, as this is the most robust measure of vitamin D levels. The search identified 23 manuscripts: two case–control, 12 cohort and nine cross-sectional studies. Collectively, the evidence suggests that higher serum levels of 25(OH)D are associated with

  • a reduced risk of asthma exacerbations , but there was

  • little evidence to suggest an association with asthma incidence, prevalence or severity.

A significant amount of heterogeneity between study methodology and results restricted the scope for meta-analysis. These results suggest that vitamin D supplementation may be effective for the prevention of asthma exacerbations, but the findings need to be confirmed by clinical trials.

📄 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

PDF contains tables which overview each of the 23 studies

See also VitaminDWiki

Tags: Breathing