Vitamin D, also commonly known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ has been shown to help treat people with asthma, scientists at the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma have found.
The team have discovered that the vitamin had significant effects when used to treat the immune pathways linked to those suffering from asthma, especially within those with severe cases of the condition where conventional medications such as inhalers or spacers don’t work.
A combination of vitamin D and steroid-based medicines can help improve the lung function in those with cancer, a vast improvement on previous research which has shown that some asthma patients can be steroid-resistant rendering some steroid medications pointless.
Vitamin D can be ingested through concentrated tablet supplement form, cod liver oil, sunlight, and through dietary choices such as fatty fish – such as tuna, salmon and mackerel, some types of orange juice, and egg yolks.
This is great news for patients looking for an excuse to go away on a sunny holiday, as our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin comes into contact with the rays from the sun. However, this isn’t a reason to skimp on the sunscreen, as your body can still absorb the sunshine vitamin even when you’re UV-protected, so make sure you apply sun cream every 2-3 hours with an appropriate factor (experts recommend SPF 15 or 30, with higher factors such as SPF 50 for kids).
Making sure you’re well prepared before you relax in the sun with a great asthma medical travel insurance policy, which can protect you against any unexpected situations which may occur due to your condition. Insurancewith can assure you with the broadest cover for your condition and with our friendly customer service team, you’ll have nothing to worry about.
