Vitamin D Improves Exercise Outcomes

Vitamin D supplements may help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) get more from their pulmonary rehabilitation programs.  Miek Hornikx, from the Katholieke Universiteit (Belgium), and colleagues enrolled 50 COPD patients with a history of exacerbations who had been referred for rehabilitation in a study in which each subject was randomly assigned to receive either a monthly dose of vitamin D (100,000 IUs of vitamin D), or placebo. All patients participated in a pulmonary rehabilitation program for three months. At the beginning of the study and again at the completion of the rehabilitation program, peripheral and respiratory muscle strength, exercise capacity and vitamin D levels were measured. Subjects were also asked to complete a quality of life survey both before and after rehabilitation. At the end of the study, researchers found that patients treated with vitamin D had a significant improvement in exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength, as compared to those in the placebo group.