Vitamin D can ward off colds in winter
Source: Agencies |
August 7, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF you can't get a dose of sunshine then a daily vitamin D supplement could help ward off colds during winter, a small Finnish study says.
Researchers have been interested in whether the vitamin might play a role in people's susceptibility to colds, flu and other respiratory infections as these illnesses rise during winter when people get little exposure to sunlight.
The body naturally synthesizes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
Researcher Dr Ilkka Laaksi of the University of Tampere in Finland said some past studies found people with relatively lower vitamin D levels in their blood tended to have higher rates of respiratory infections than those with higher levels of the vitamin.
Laaksi said along with that evidence, recent lab research had shown that vitamin D may play a key role in the body's immune defenses against respiratory pathogens.
For the latest study, Laaksi's team randomly assigned 164 male military recruits to take either 400 international units of vitamin D or inactive placebo pills every day for six months from October.
After six months, the researchers found no clear difference between the two groups in the average number of days missed from duty due to a respiratory infection including bronchitis, sinus infections, pneumonia, ear infections and sore throat.
On average, men who took vitamin D missed about two days from duty because of a respiratory infection, compared with three days in the placebo group. But men in the vitamin D group were more likely to have no days missed from work due to a respiratory illness, the researchers reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Researchers have been interested in whether the vitamin might play a role in people's susceptibility to colds, flu and other respiratory infections as these illnesses rise during winter when people get little exposure to sunlight.
The body naturally synthesizes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
Researcher Dr Ilkka Laaksi of the University of Tampere in Finland said some past studies found people with relatively lower vitamin D levels in their blood tended to have higher rates of respiratory infections than those with higher levels of the vitamin.
Laaksi said along with that evidence, recent lab research had shown that vitamin D may play a key role in the body's immune defenses against respiratory pathogens.
For the latest study, Laaksi's team randomly assigned 164 male military recruits to take either 400 international units of vitamin D or inactive placebo pills every day for six months from October.
After six months, the researchers found no clear difference between the two groups in the average number of days missed from duty due to a respiratory infection including bronchitis, sinus infections, pneumonia, ear infections and sore throat.
On average, men who took vitamin D missed about two days from duty because of a respiratory infection, compared with three days in the placebo group. But men in the vitamin D group were more likely to have no days missed from work due to a respiratory illness, the researchers reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
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