Have Asthma? Go Outside: Study

Children with asthma might want to get outside more. According to a recent study, children with lower levels of vitamin D are likely to have more severe asthma symptoms, ScienceDaily reports. In the first in vivo study on the subject, researchers looked at 600 Costa Rican children with asthma. Those with less vitamin D, which the body produces primarily by absorbing sunlight, were more likely to be hospitalized, use inhalers, and have airways with increased hyperreactivity.

“The results are robust,” the doctors wrote. Though it’s hard to establish strict causation, “we suspect that giving vitamin D supplements to asthma patients who are deficient may help with their asthma control.” (More asthma stories.)