Photo: Getty Q: A friend with asthma says that vitamin D pills help her symptom control. Is there anything to that? My daughter, who’s 12 years old, recently had to increase her medication dose because of asthma control issues. If vitamin D pills would help, she’s willing to try.
Dr. Bassett: To answer your question accurately is not a simple task. In recent years some studies have linked low vitamin D levels with reduced asthma control and higher levels of attacks.
Yet a review of studies from McGill University in Montreal found no statistical association with reduced vitamin D levels and a person’s level of asthma control or impairment.
So, the jury is really still out on this vitamin’s role in asthma.
However, you can still be proactive at any age. Be sure to have an asthma action plan in place as an essential step in optimizing your asthma control, whether it be for a child, a teen or yourself.
Dr. Clifford Bassett, allergist and asthma specialist, is the Medical Director of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York (Allergyreliefnyc.com; Twitter @allergyreliefny). He is on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and is also the author of The New Food Allergy Solution: Supercharge Resistance, Slash Medication, Stop Suffering.
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