Get In 2 Vitamin D

A well-designed study with large numbers shows a clear association between low levels of vitamin D and a recent upper respiratory tract infection - regardless of the season! The study, done at the Massachusetts General Hospital using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was reported in the February 23, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. These results are most important for people suffering from asthma or emphysema/COPD - and not just because people with those conditions tend to have worse clinical outcomes after getting an upper respiratory tract infection (URI). The study shows that people with these lung conditions are much more likely to have recent upper respiratory tract infection if their vitamin D is in the lowest range. How much more likely? For baseline people (no asthma or COPD), having the lowest vitamin D level increases your risk of a recent URI by 40%. But for people with COPD, that risk jumps to over two and half times. And for people with asthma and the lowest levels of vitamin D, they suffer more than five times the risk of a recent URI. Get your blood vitamin D levels checked, especially if you have asthma or COPD, and make sure they stay over BODY { FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma; FONT-SIZE:10pt } P { FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma; FONT-SIZE:10pt } DIV { FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma; FONT-SIZE:10pt } TD { FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma; FONT-SIZE:10pt } 30 ng/mL (or, depending on the lab's reference range >60nmol/L) - year round!