Vitamin D and Pneumonia

Vitamin D is also called the "sunshine vitamin" and plays a vital role in your immune system by strengthening the cells that seek out and destroy bacteria and viruses. Vitamin D also might play a role in preventing pneumonia, which led to a million hospital stays and 52,000 deaths in 2009 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you don't get a lot of sunshine or are in a high-risk group for pneumonia, adding vitamin D to your diet could help save your life.

Identification

Vitamin D is synthesized in your body when ultraviolet rays from the sun hit your skin. It's also found naturally in small amounts in dairy products, fish and oysters, and is added to fortified foods such as cereals and supplements. Five forms of vitamin D have been identified, with vitamins D2 and D3 the most important for bone growth, a healthy immune system and fighting inflammation. The Recommended Daily Value of vitamin D for most people, as established by the Food and Nutrition Board, is 600 international units, or IU.

Pneumonia Prevention

For most of the 20th century, it was known that cases of pneumonia peaked in the winter months. A study in Philadelphia investigated 602 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease from 2002 to 2007, including weekly weather patterns and incidence rates. The results, published in 2009 in "BMC Infectious Diseases," clearly established a link between invasive pneumococcal disease with the winter months due to periods of low ultraviolet radiation and the resulting lack of vitamin D production.

Pneumonia Recurrence

Children in Kabul, Afghanistan, with pneumonia were given either 100,000 IU of supplemental vitamin D3 or a placebo in addition to standard antibiotics therapy. The study was published in "Topical Medicine and International Health" in October 2010 and showed that, although the vitamin D didn't shorten recovery, the children who received the supplement experienced longer periods between a recurrent bout of pneumonia than children who received the placebo.

Pneumonia Mortality

Researchers in Norway conducted a review of pneumonia cases in that country between 1980 and 2000, and published their results in 2009 in "Dermatoendocrinology," which linked high numbers of winter influenza and pneumonia deaths in Norway to low vitamin D levels during the winter months. A study from New Zealand, published in April 2011 in "Respirology," also found that adult patients admitted to the hospital with pneumonia are more likely to die if they have a vitamin D deficiency.

Considerations

Excess vitamin D of 10,000 to 40,000 IU per day can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness and weight loss. It can also raise calcium levels in the blood, leading to mental confusion, kidney stones or heart rhythm abnormalities. Very high doses can cause damage to the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. Check with your doctor before adding vitamin D supplements to your diet.