By : JAMES GALLAGHER
THE amount of time asthma
patients spend soaking up the sun may have an impact on the illness,
researchers have suggested. A team at King's College London said low levels of
vitamin D, which is made by the body in sunlight, was linked to a worsening of
symptoms.
Its latest research shows
the vitamin calms an over-active part of the immune system in asthma.
However, treating patients
with vitamin D has not yet been tested.
People with asthma can find
it hard to breathe when their airways become inflamed, swollen and narrowed.
Most people are treated with
steroids, but the drugs do not work for all.
"We know people with
high levels of vitamin D are better able to control their asthma - that
connection is quite striking," said researcher Prof Catherine Hawrylowicz.
Her group investigated the
impact of the vitamin on a chemical in the body, interleukin-17. It is a vital
part of the immune system and helps to fight off infections.
However, it can cause
problems when levels get too high and has been strongly implicated in asthma.
In this study, published in
the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, vitamin D was able to lower
levels of interleukin-17 when it was added to blood samples taken from 28
patients.
The team is now conducting
clinical trials to see if giving the sunshine vitamin to patients could ease
their symptoms. They are looking at patients who do not respond to steroids as
they produce seven times more interleukin-17 than other patients.
Prof Catherine Hawrylowicz
told the BBC: "We think that treating people with vitamin D could make
steroid-resistant patients respond to steroids or let those who can control
their asthma take less steroids."
She said a culture of
covering up in the sun and using sun cream may have increased asthma rates, but
"it is a careful message because too much sun is bad for you".
Malayka Rahman, from the
charity Asthma UK, said: "For the majority of people with asthma, current
available medicines are an effective way of managing the condition but we know
that they don't work for everyone, which is why research into new treatments is
vital.
"We also know that many
people with asthma have concerns about the side effects of their medicines so
if vitamin D is shown to reduce the amount of medicines required, this would
have an enormous impact on people's quality of life.
"We look forward to the
results of the clinical trial." (BBC News)
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