Lower vitamin D levels associated with common cold

An article published in the February 23, 2009 issue of the American Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine revealed an association between lower levels of serum vitamin D and decreased resistance to upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), otherwise known as the common cold.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Boston, and the University of Colorado analyzed data from 18,883 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) of U.S. participants aged 12 and older. Physical examinations following enrollment obtained blood samples and information including the occurrence of recent upper respiratory tract infections. Stored blood samples were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Nineteen percent of the participants reported having a recent cold. For those whose serum vitamin D levels were lower than 10 nanograms per milliliter, the incidence was 24 percent, for subjects whose levels were 10 to less than 30 ng/mL the incidence was 20 percent, and the rate dropped to 17 percent among those with levels of 30 ng/mL or higher. After adjustment for demographic and other characteristics, those whose vitamin D levels were lowest experienced a 36 greater risk of URTI, and those whose levels were 10 to less than 30 ng/mL experienced a 24 percent greater risk compared with participants whose levels were at least 30 ng/mL. The association was significantly stronger for those with asthma. Continue Reading