News 24 Treatment of vitamin deficiency protects against kidney disease and flu

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Vitamin D supplements reduce the risk of potentially fatal lung disease in some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary embolism (COPD), according to the Medical Press.

The results of the study add new benefits to the long list of health benefits offered by the dietary supplement, called "solar vitamin". Although most of the previous studies have been linked to vitamin D and bone health, only the team from Queen Mary University has revealed a new role: the prevention of colds, flu and asthma .

The study was based on data analysis of 469 patients in 3 clinical trials in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The use of vitamin D supplementation resulted in a 45% reduction in pulmonary attacks in vitamin D deficiency patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but no effect was observed in patients with higher vitamin D levels, the study found.

The significance of the results of the new study is that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease includes a number of cases of lung disease, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Almost all deaths from lung obstruction are due to a severe exacerbation of symptoms, which often begin with viral infections of the upper respiratory tract, the type that causes the common cold.

COPD, a pulmonary obstruction, affects more than 170 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 3.2 million people in 2015.

Health and nutrition experts in England are advised to take 10 micrograms, or 400 IU, of vitamin D a day to prevent vitamin D deficiency and protect against the complications of deficiency.