Vitamin Ds Role in Preventing Asthma

ST. LOUISAsthma has doubled in U.S. children over the last two decades; therefore, researchers are conducting the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial (VDAART) that will follow a group of pregnant women who have asthma or allergies to determine if vitamin D supplementation can prevent their children from developing asthma.

The 5-year research study funded by the National Institutes of Health will enroll 870 women nationwide between 10-18 weeks of pregnancy and randomly divide them into two groups. One group will receive a typical prenatal vitamin with 400 units of vitamin D and a 4,000-unit vitamin D supplement the other group will receive the same prenatal vitamin plus a placebo.

During the course of the study, patients will attend regular visits with their obstetrician, provide blood and urine samples and answer questionnaires about diet, pregnancy, sunlight exposure, physical activity, health and medications. Their children born during the study will be evaluated for asthma and recurrent wheezing at ages 1, 2 and 3.

"What's very attractive about this study is how simple it is," said a co-investigator on the study. "We hope that supplementing mothers with extra vitamin D during pregnancy will help to reduce risks of asthma in children and will improve children's health over the long term."