Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Vitamin D lack linked to a lung disease

|
|
 
  
Published: Jan. 6, 2011 at 8:29 PM

CINCINNATI, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers link vitamin D deficiencies and the onset of autoimmune interstitial lung disease that affects tissues of the lungs instead of airways.

Investigators at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center in Ohio, led by Dr. Brent Kinder, say interstitial lung disease causes scarring of the lungs, is more difficult to diagnosis, is more difficult to treat than other kinds of lung diseases, and is often fatal.

The study, published in the journal Chest, finds those with interstitial lung disease were more likely than others to have vitamin D deficiencies. Most of those affected were fund to have undifferentiated connective tissue disease -- a chronic autoimmune disease affecting multiple organs but usually not developed enough to be easily recognized.

"These findings suggest that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with an interstitial lung disease particularly those with connective tissue disease," Kinder says in a statement.

Kinder and colleagues evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in 118 patients -- 67 with connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease and 51 with other causes of lung fibrosis.

© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'
What do you REALLY know about the Queen?
A survey reveals that one-third of British pet owners would rather go away with their pet on vacation...