Doctors Health Press Reports on Studies: Vitamin D Deficiency Could Cause Severe Respiratory Infections

Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 10, 2013

Doctors Health Press, a division of Lombardi Publishing Corporation and publisher of various natural health newsletters, books, and reports, including the popular online Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin, is reporting on two new studies finding that being low in vitamin D could cause dangerous respiratory infections.

As Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin (http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/general-health-2/how-this-vitamin-level-affects-healthy-lungs) notes, one trial conducted at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. looked at vitamin D deficiency and respiratory infectionsin particular, a condition called bronchiectasis. Bronchiectasis happens when an infection leads to an abnormal dilation of the bronchi. The condition causes a cough to appear that often lasts months, and even years. It can also cause wheezing, fever, fatigue, and chest pain.

As the article How This Vitamin Level Affects Healthy Lungs reports, for their study, the Edinburgh researchers recruited 402 patients with bronchiectasis. They conducted a number of tests and found that 50% of the patients were vitamin D deficient. Of the 402 patients, 43% had insufficient vitamin D levels, while only seven percent had adequate vitamin D levels.

The Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin article states that when compared to the control group, vitamin D-deficient patients were also more likely to suffer from inflammation, had more bacteria in their lungs, and were more likely to have pulmonary exacerbations. When the researchers conducted a follow-up three years later, the vitamin D-deficient participants still had worse lung function than the control group.

The article adds that another trial conducted at the Queen Mary, University of London also found similar results. In this review study, researchers also investigated the association between vitamin D deficiency and susceptibility to acute respiratory infections. After a review of 39 studies, the research team found that low vitamin D levels were associated with an increased risk of both upper and lower respiratory tract infections.

(SOURCES: Chalmers, J.D., et al., Vitamin-D deficiency is associated with chronic bacterial colonisation and disease severity in bronchiectasis, Thorax. January 2013; 68(1): 3947; Jolliffe, D.A., et al., Vitamin D in the prevention of acute respiratory infection: Systematic review of clinical studies, J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. December 7, 2012.)

Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin is a daily e-letter providing natural health news with a focus on natural healing through foods, herbs, and other breakthrough alternative health treatments. For more information on Doctors Health Press, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com.

Doctors Health Press believes in the healing properties of various alternative remedies, including traditional Chinese medicine. To see a video outlining the Doctors Health Press views on traditional Chinese medicine, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/chinesemedicine.

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