TY - JOUR T1 - What's hot that the other lot got JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - 674 LP - 674 DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-208905 VL - 71 IS - 7 AU - Elizabeth Batalla-Duran Y1 - 2016/07/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/71/7/674.abstract N2 - Vitamin D is emerging as a possible factor in airways inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with deficiency thought to contribute to worsening lung function in COPD patients. A Korean study in Respiration (doi:10.1159/000445266) looked at whether vitamin D deficiency was associated with a more rapid decline in exercise capacity in male COPD patients. Multivariate analysis showed vitamin D deficiency was independently associated with a rapid decline in exercise capacity. The decrease in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) in patients with severe vitamin D deficiency was more prominent (23.1 m/year) and the number of patients with moderate-to-severe deficiency was significantly higher in the rapid decliners (p=0.002). Vitamin D levels were significantly higher in those patients whose exercise capacity improved over the 3 years compared with those with no change or a decline. Studies are needed to ascertain if supplementation with vitamin D in those with deficiency would benefit the patient in terms of exercise capacity.The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Diseases (GOLD) considers … ER -