"Sunshine vitamin 'may treat asthma'", BBC News informs us, as a
new lab-based study suggests vitamin D could help control
symptoms of severe asthma. Asthma is caused by inflammation of
the airways, related to malfunctioning of the body's immune
system. In theory, the immune system mistakes harmless
substances, such as dust mites, as a threat and triggers
inflammation of the lungs and airways (which causes the symptoms
of asthma). The study in question looked at IL-17A, which is one
of the molecules thought to be associated with the
malfunctioning immune response seen in asthma. Researchers
examined whether vitamin D had an effect on the levels of the
molecule produced by white blood cells in a laboratory
experiment. Researchers found that vitamin D reduced the levels
of IL-17A produced by cells from people with asthma. This
included cells from people who had previously failed to respond
to the treatment of choice for severe asthma - oral
corticosteroids - often referred to as steroids. While this
study sugge