Vitamin D may bolster breathing

Higher amounts of vitamin D could help make it easier to breathe, offering possible good news for smokers, asthmatics and other people with respiratory problems.

Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that people with higher levels of the vitamin in their systems showed better lung function than those with lower amounts.

Although the vitamin, which people get mostly from sunlight, is linked to lung health, the exact relationship is unclear, they said. Vitamin D can also be found in certain foods such as fortified beverages, fatty fish and dietary supplements.

Dr. Peter Black, an associate professor in the university’s department of medicine, and his team analyzed information from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which collected data on 14,091 people from 1988 to 1994.

The findings appear in the December issue of the American College of Chest Physicians’ journal, Chest.