COPD & Emphysema Support Group
COPD is a progressive disease characterized by airflow obstruction or limitation. Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli and of capillaries feeding the alveoli. Both have symptoms that include shortness of breath, among other respiratory troubles. If you are a COPD or Emphysema sufferer, join...
Most people associate vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, with strong bones. But studies in the past few years have linked this essential nutrient to a bonanza of additional benefitsfrom fighting cancer and diabetes to strengthening muscles. Physicians in New Zealand have now linked the vitamin to yet one more apparent advantage: improved lung function.
Peter N. Black is a University of Auckland internist with a research interest in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)a category including diseases most people know as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Classic signs of COPD are holes in lung tissue where inflammatory enzymes have homed in to destroy diseased cells. Although COPD is common in cigarette smokers, not all smokers develop this disease.
Scientists know that enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases play a role in creating COPD's lung damage. Since laboratory studies had indicated vitamin D could inhibit production of these enzymes, Black wondered if people who got plenty of the vitamin through sun exposure or supplements might be protected from the disease. So, he and colleague Robert Scragg decided to mine data on vitamin status and lung function for 14,000 U.S. residentsa nationally representative samplewho had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
In the December Chest, the researchers report that getting ample vitamin D doesn't prevent COPD, but it does appear to help people with and without this lung disease to breathe easier and more deeply. Indeed, Black told Science News Online, "We were taken aback at how large the effect was." The study showed that people who never smoked but who were getting little vitamin D had 35 percent worse lung function than did former smokers who were getting adequate amounts of the vitamin. Current smokers, regardless of their vitamin D intake, had worse lung function than did either of these groups.
Blow hard
To measure lung function, NHANES researchers had men and women blow as much air as they could, as fast as they could, into a device. The tool gives two readings: how much air a person forces from his or her lungs in the first second after starting to blow, a parameter known as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and the total volume expelled, known as forced vital capacity (FVC).
The two measures are related, but in people with lung disease, one may fall more than the other. For instance, in people with asthma, FEV1 falls more than FVC. The opposite is true in people who have lung fibrosis, essentially the development of scar tissue.
For their study, Black and Scragg grouped the NHANES participants into five roughly equal-size groups on the basis of how much vitamin D was in their blood. The group with the lowest D had no more than 40.4 nanomoles of the vitamin per liter (nmol/l) of blood, whereas the group with the highest concentration had at least 85.7 nmol/l.
Recent studies have suggested that the optimal vitamin D blood concentration for most adults is at least 75 nmol/l and that elderly people might need at least 100 nmol/l (see Vitamin D: What's Enough?). In the NHANES analysis, fewer than 40 percent of people had D blood concentrations of at least 75 nmol/l.
Mona Calvo of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has coauthored studies reviewing people's vitamin D status in North America. She defines vitamin D deficiency as less than 37.5 nmol/l, a value that especially people of color fail to achieve in the United States. Presumably, this reflects the fact that dark skin blocks absorption of much of the ultraviolet light that a person's body needs to make vitamin D (see Understanding Vitamin D Deficiency).
In the NHANES data, both FEV1 and FVC correlated with bloodvitamin D concentrations: people in successively higher-concentration groups more strongly expelled air from their lungs. For instance, the average difference between those in the top vitamin group and those in the bottom one was 126 milliliters of air in FEV1. In absolute terms, that value is small, considering that a healthy person will typically have an FEV1 of between 3 and 4 liters of air, depending on age and gender.
However, Black notes, the effect of vitamin D on lung function is larger than what other studies have attributed to eating diets rich in fruits and antioxidant vitamins or to most environmental factors other than smoking.
Vitamin D might even slow the reduction in lung function attributable to age or disease, Black notes. Beginning in late middle age, even healthy people begin losing about 20 to 30 ml in their FEV1 reading each year. In smokers with COPD, the drop in lung function can be 50 to 100 ml/year.
For people with COPD, Black argues, preserving almost 130 ml in breathing capacity "could prove quite meaningful"extending by several years the period during which they could breathe comfortably, especially during exercise.
He cautions, however, that the new findings are only suggestive. To prove that vitamin Dand not some other related factoris responsible for the lung benefits, researchers must conduct a large experiment in which half of the participants are administered vitamin supplements or given supervised sun exposures and half aren't, Black says. Until then, he adds, it's too early to advocate vitamin D supplements for the sake of people's lungs. On the other hand, he adds, there are many other reasonsbone health, for instancefor making sure to get plenty of the sunshine vitamin.
Indeed, people with too little vitamin D appear to be paying a toll in health status, according to a trio of researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, the University of California, San Diego, and the San Franciscobased Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center. Their new analysis, reported in the November Photochemistry and Photobiology, looked at U.S. incidences of diseases that appear to be higher in people with low vitamin Dblood concentrationsfrom osteoporosis-linked fractures to certain cancers. Overall, the researchers calculate, as many as 50,000 people may die prematurely in the United States each year from diseases related to vitamin D deficiency, at an estimated cost to society of at least $40 billion. That's at least seven times as much as the annual U.S. cost of cataracts and skin cancers attributable to excess sun exposure.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/6916/title/Food_for_Thought__Breathing_Easier_with_Vitamin_D
Hope this helps someone here,
Breath Easy and have a nice weekend.
Holly
Peter N. Black is a University of Auckland internist with a research interest in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)a category including diseases most people know as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Classic signs of COPD are holes in lung tissue where inflammatory enzymes have homed in to destroy diseased cells. Although COPD is common in cigarette smokers, not all smokers develop this disease.
Scientists know that enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases play a role in creating COPD's lung damage. Since laboratory studies had indicated vitamin D could inhibit production of these enzymes, Black wondered if people who got plenty of the vitamin through sun exposure or supplements might be protected from the disease. So, he and colleague Robert Scragg decided to mine data on vitamin status and lung function for 14,000 U.S. residentsa nationally representative samplewho had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
In the December Chest, the researchers report that getting ample vitamin D doesn't prevent COPD, but it does appear to help people with and without this lung disease to breathe easier and more deeply. Indeed, Black told Science News Online, "We were taken aback at how large the effect was." The study showed that people who never smoked but who were getting little vitamin D had 35 percent worse lung function than did former smokers who were getting adequate amounts of the vitamin. Current smokers, regardless of their vitamin D intake, had worse lung function than did either of these groups.
Blow hard
To measure lung function, NHANES researchers had men and women blow as much air as they could, as fast as they could, into a device. The tool gives two readings: how much air a person forces from his or her lungs in the first second after starting to blow, a parameter known as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and the total volume expelled, known as forced vital capacity (FVC).
The two measures are related, but in people with lung disease, one may fall more than the other. For instance, in people with asthma, FEV1 falls more than FVC. The opposite is true in people who have lung fibrosis, essentially the development of scar tissue.
For their study, Black and Scragg grouped the NHANES participants into five roughly equal-size groups on the basis of how much vitamin D was in their blood. The group with the lowest D had no more than 40.4 nanomoles of the vitamin per liter (nmol/l) of blood, whereas the group with the highest concentration had at least 85.7 nmol/l.
Recent studies have suggested that the optimal vitamin D blood concentration for most adults is at least 75 nmol/l and that elderly people might need at least 100 nmol/l (see Vitamin D: What's Enough?). In the NHANES analysis, fewer than 40 percent of people had D blood concentrations of at least 75 nmol/l.
Mona Calvo of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has coauthored studies reviewing people's vitamin D status in North America. She defines vitamin D deficiency as less than 37.5 nmol/l, a value that especially people of color fail to achieve in the United States. Presumably, this reflects the fact that dark skin blocks absorption of much of the ultraviolet light that a person's body needs to make vitamin D (see Understanding Vitamin D Deficiency).
In the NHANES data, both FEV1 and FVC correlated with bloodvitamin D concentrations: people in successively higher-concentration groups more strongly expelled air from their lungs. For instance, the average difference between those in the top vitamin group and those in the bottom one was 126 milliliters of air in FEV1. In absolute terms, that value is small, considering that a healthy person will typically have an FEV1 of between 3 and 4 liters of air, depending on age and gender.
However, Black notes, the effect of vitamin D on lung function is larger than what other studies have attributed to eating diets rich in fruits and antioxidant vitamins or to most environmental factors other than smoking.
Vitamin D might even slow the reduction in lung function attributable to age or disease, Black notes. Beginning in late middle age, even healthy people begin losing about 20 to 30 ml in their FEV1 reading each year. In smokers with COPD, the drop in lung function can be 50 to 100 ml/year.
For people with COPD, Black argues, preserving almost 130 ml in breathing capacity "could prove quite meaningful"extending by several years the period during which they could breathe comfortably, especially during exercise.
He cautions, however, that the new findings are only suggestive. To prove that vitamin Dand not some other related factoris responsible for the lung benefits, researchers must conduct a large experiment in which half of the participants are administered vitamin supplements or given supervised sun exposures and half aren't, Black says. Until then, he adds, it's too early to advocate vitamin D supplements for the sake of people's lungs. On the other hand, he adds, there are many other reasonsbone health, for instancefor making sure to get plenty of the sunshine vitamin.
Indeed, people with too little vitamin D appear to be paying a toll in health status, according to a trio of researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, the University of California, San Diego, and the San Franciscobased Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center. Their new analysis, reported in the November Photochemistry and Photobiology, looked at U.S. incidences of diseases that appear to be higher in people with low vitamin Dblood concentrationsfrom osteoporosis-linked fractures to certain cancers. Overall, the researchers calculate, as many as 50,000 people may die prematurely in the United States each year from diseases related to vitamin D deficiency, at an estimated cost to society of at least $40 billion. That's at least seven times as much as the annual U.S. cost of cataracts and skin cancers attributable to excess sun exposure.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/6916/title/Food_for_Thought__Breathing_Easier_with_Vitamin_D
Hope this helps someone here,
Breath Easy and have a nice weekend.
Holly
For myself, I take extra Vitamin D daily, especially now that it's wintertime and much harder to get out for a bit of sunshine.
Thanks for posting this most informative article!
Hugs
Joni
My Dr. for years has had me take Vit D whenever possible for a while before any winter time surgery because we found with me that I recovery faster and have less complications.
I had slacked off but maybe will start it back up again.. gotta prevent the Pac NW winter gray skies effects.
Jamsnjazzy and Idozy - Do you breath any easier when you take the Vit D?
Thanks for info
Only in winter do I need extra Vit D despite a daily multivit , good diet and trying to get any sun exposure available- we just don't get enough. Summer time- no problem and don't take it.
Funny thing is guess my younger years of living in sunnier places must have helped as I have very dense and strong bones per my scans.
Kinda forgot to start it this winter so back on I go but will see if I notice any difference in breathing.
I have osteoporosis and for 1 year I gave myself a daily injection of medicine to rebuild my spine as I had 3 vertebrae fractures within
12 weeks span in 2008. I now take a monthly pill for this and so far so good.
It is known medically that many women are short on Vit D and Doctors dont think to monitor this in women. So ladies ask your Doctor for a blood test to see what your levels are.
Hugs Rita
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/681.html
Breath Easy,
Holly
According to the information that I got before deciding which to take, there have been studies that show that the D3 is a more natural form and is superior to D2 as a supplement.
Most Vitamin D found in US preparations is D2 but I have noticed that the D3 is becoming more common on the shelves.
RDA is probably best determined by your doctor based on lab testing.
Best,
Anna
As far as the question if I breathe easier, it is hard to tell...mostly because I am take my Sprivia and Symbicort without fail and have found breathing better since using them.
PearlB - thanks for your input -- i'll pick up some D3 tomorrow
I'm in Chicagoland and while its been plenty sunny out, its also very frigid and we are covered from head to toe, so we dont get true sun on our skin.
Thanks to all for sharing.
However, I was surprised that the speaker didnt mention how important it is to have regular blood test to check on your own level of Vit D. To much of Vit D can be toxic.
My Doctor has me take the Vit D3 also,I do know that you can only buy up to 2000mg over the counter anything greater you need a script for. When I first learn I was deficient in Vit D I had to take Vit D 50,000u 3x a week for 3 months then 5000u per day and then down to 3000u a day and am now staying consistant with 2000u daily.
Hugs, Rita
As many meds as we have to take these days, I want to be as efficient as possible because I truly hate to take any kind of pill.
this has been interesting, thanks to all.
High levels of vitamin D and calcium can lead to the calcification and damage to organs, particularly the kidneys and blood vessels.
Hope this helps,
breath easy,
Holly
I searched back to this post to find the approximate date I started taking the vitamin D. immediately went out and purchased - took it for 3 days. Was thinking about some things said in the post about "testing for levels of D" etc so I stopped.
Long story short-having a cyst removed monday in my knee caused by calcium deposits in many joints. This is the 4 or 5th time that I have taken antibiotics and had trigger thumb, finger and now knee and achilles "trigger" tendonitis right after.
In my research efforts, I discovered that too much Vit D can cause the deposits--it was a true awakening!
I'm certain that Vit D is NOT the cause of my issue since I only took 3 tablets and the joint tenderness was already there prior. But I thought I would just share this with the group. I will have my D levels checked prior to taking them again.
Thanks for all your input!