Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked To Asthma In African-American Kids

March 17, 2010 11:55 p.m. EST

Topics: medical conditions, medical research, health, United States

Ayinde O. Chase - AHN News Editor

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - Researchers have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy African American children.

The findings of this recent study supports previous research that suggests vitamin D plays a greater role in the body than just keeping bones healthy. Scientists and medical professionals have linked Vitamin D deficiency to numerous non-bone related diseases including depression, autoimmune disorders, and now asthma.

Vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among African Americans than other Americans and, in North America, most young, healthy blacks do not achieve optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations at any time of year. Researchers say it is primarily due to the fact that pigmentation in their skin reduces the amount of vitamin D produced in the skin.

Robert Freishtat, MD, MPH who led the study which is published in the Journal of Pediatrics says, "It's been well-documented that as a group, African Americans are more likely than other racial groups to have low levels of vitamin D."

He goes on to say, "But we were shocked to see that almost all of the African American children with asthma that we tested had low vitamin D levels. After adjusting for differences in age, weight, and the time of year of the testing, the odds of these kids with asthma being vitamin D deficient were nearly twenty times those of healthy kids."

The findings could be interpreted to mean that low vitamin D levels have more serious effects on a child's lung health than previously believed. The District of Columbia is regarded as having one of the highest rates of pediatric asthma in the United States. Researchers in the study say for African American kids with asthma, vitamin D testing and ensuring adequate vitamin D intake may soon become commonplace and a necessary part of their primary care.

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