Mr. Broken Record chiming in here. Only because I don't really have anything else to offer, I'll say you might as well look into this if you are not already doing so. Have you had your vitamin D levels checked, and/or do you supplement or get plenty of sunshine as you were apparently designed to do? (and the same general principle can be claimed for vitamin C)
Though not COPD (but still lung related)there have now been 4 studies from around the world(including one from USA/Louisiana) strongly implicating deficient vitamin D blood levels with the most severe cases, and fatalities from, Covid-19. Asthma also is not COPD, but still lung related, and there was a recent placebo controlled study on Japanese school children where vitamin D supplementation not only cut respiratory infections like flu(and maybe even like Covid-19?) very significantly, but cut asthma attacks a whopping 85%.
As for COPD specific, maybe there is some hope here:
https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/news/20190111/is-daily-vitamin-d-a-lifesaver-for-copd-patients"Our study shows that giving supplements to vitamin D-deficient COPD patients nearly halves their rate of potentially fatal attacks," said lead researcher Adrian Martineau, a professor at Queen Mary University of London.".
https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/news/20110516/vitamin-d-may-improve-breathing-for-copd-patients#1"The 50 study participants were patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were part of a three-month pulmonary rehabilitation program in Belgium.
Half were randomly assigned to get a high-dose vitamin D supplement; the other half got a dummy pill on the same schedule.
At the end of the study, those getting 100,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D each month had improvement in respiratory muscle strength and could exercise longer and more intensely than those who were not getting vitamin D."
https://copdnewstoday.com/2018/02/06/vitamin-d-levels-associated-with-respiratory-function-may-be-linked-copd/"Vitamin D Levels Associated with Respiratory Function, May Be Linked to COPD, Study Reports............
Vitamin D levels are associated with respiratory function and health, research from Australia shows. The findings suggest an additional process could be driving diseases such as chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD)................................Abnormal levels of the vitamin have been associated with respiratory illness and reduced lung function. Immune modulation and effects on lung structure are among the proposed mechanisms underlying these effects. However, more information is needed to better understand this relationship, especially regarding the role of diverse confounding factors.
Research shows that a vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among COPD patients, but no evidence of a link with lung function decline or mortality has been found.
Therefore, researchers determined the serum vitamin D levels in 5,106 people of baby-boomer age at the Australian Busselton Healthy Ageing Study to study their association with respiratory symptoms, disease, and lung function. A subset of 4,212 also had spirometry (lung function) data, while 2,669 underwent an overnight sleep study.
Respiratory symptoms were assessed by questionnaire and included wheeze (a whistling sound in the respiratory airways when breathing), shortness of breath, chest tightness, cough, and sputum.
Results showed that low levels of vitamin D correlated with respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and asthma, and symptoms including wheezing and chest tightness.
In addition, poor lung function – as measured by forced vital capacity, or the total amount of air exhaled after a deep breath – was also associated with low levels of the vitamin.
Further indicating its key role in maintaining respiratory health, high levels of vitamin D were linked to better lung function, even after accounting for factors known to influence its levels, such as obesity, seasonal fluctuation, and other chronic diseases.
“The findings in this study coupled with recent studies investigating asthma outcomes and use of vitamin D supplements strengthen the proposed mechanistic relationship between vitamin D deficiency and respiratory disease,” the researchers wrote."
So who knows, if you are not already looking into this thing that our doctors only rarely tell us about
(maybe more every day I hope), it might be worthwhile for you to do so.
Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 5/15/2020 11:16:02 AM (GMT-6)