Abstract :
Background: Asthma is an inflammatory disorder, usually chronic, and is related to the hypersensitivity of the airways to allergens leading to dyspnoea, wheezing, cough and tightness in chest. Increased severity of asthma and poor control has been attributed to lower levels of Vitamin D levels.
Materials and Methods: Blood was collected from 78 patients who were diagnosed with asthma and tested for Vitamin D levels eosinophil counts, IgE levels, and regular biochemical tests. All these patients underwent Asthma Control Test, Pulmonary Function tests for FEV1%, FVC%, FEV1/FVC%.
Results : The serum eosinophil count, sputum eosinophil count and IgE levels were significantly higher in Vitamin D deficient patients compared to the sufficient patients. The most common severity of asthma among the patients was due to atopy as seen in 53.8% of the patients. In 39.6% of the patients who were Vit D deficient, the asthma was very severe as was the case in 8% of the Vit D sufficient people. The Forced expiratory volume, Forced vital capacity and FEV1/FVC1 was 92.69 ± 0.9 %, 91.3 ± 12.1% and 76.2 ± 8.7 in patients with deficient Vitamin D levels and 97.36 ± 1.1%, 99.1 ± 7.3% and 81.6 ± 13.1 in patients with sufficient Vit D levels respectively.
Conclusions: There seems to be a strong association of Vitamin D levels and asthma among patients. High vitamin D levels are beneficial to the lung function and also slow the asthma exacerbations.
Keyword :
Vitamin D deficiency, Asthma, Exacerbations