Vitamin D’s new hopes

ASTHMATICS who take vitamin D supplements could halve their chances of winding up in hospital being treated for a serious asthma attack.

British researchers reviewed data from 955 people, mainly adults with mild-tomoderate asthma, involved in seven trials that tested the use of oral vitamin D supplements.

Use of the supplements led to a 50 per cent drop in the number of people being admitted to a hospital emergency department because of an asthma attack and there was also a 30 per cent slide in the number of asthmatics needing to be treated with steroids.