Vitamin D no cure for lung disease

Vitamin D supplementation has no clear benefit for patients with chronic lung diseases, according to media reports Tuesday quoting new study published in Monday's Annals of Internal Medicine. Prior research suggested that up to three quarters of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, are deficient in the vitamin. So much hope has been pinned on Vitamin D to cure or treat patient with COPD, an umbrella name for chronic lung diseases, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. People with COPD often experience a worsening of their breathlessness and other symptoms (exacerbations) throughout the course of their disease. In the new study involving 182 people with COPD, participants orally received 100,000 IU of vitamin D or an inactive placebo monthly for a year. The study found that there were 468 exacerbations during the study period, and there was no difference in the numbers between the different groups. And there were also no differences in time to the first exacerbation between those who received vitamin D and those who did not. "Supplementation with vitamin D is not going to cure their disease," said Dr. Wim Janssens, one of the study's authors from University Hospitals Leuven. Janssens said vitamin may help reduce inflammation, including inflammation in the airways that worsens COPD symptoms, such as coughing and trouble breathing.