Effect of a Course of Aerobic Exercise and Consumption of Vitamin D Supplementation on Respiratory Indicators in Patients with Asthma

Despite the use of exercise therapy in patients with respiratory disease such as asthma, some researchers have emphasized on taking supplementation as a therapeutic approach. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of a course of aerobic exercise and consumption of vitamin D supplementation (1000 IU) on respiratory indicators of patients with asthma.

This study was designed as a quasi-experimental investigation on a total of 32 female asthmatic patients with a mean age of 20-30 years. Subjects were classified into four eight-person groups: 1- (AT+S) group which had both aerobic training and supplementation consumption; 2- Aerobic training (AT) group that only participated in exercise training; 3- Group (S) that only consumed vitamin D supplementation; 4- Control (C) Group that had neither aerobic training nor supplementation consumption. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test. Significant difference considered as p<0.05.

In this study, there was a significant difference in post test (p<0.001) between groups in case of maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and maximum expiratory flow at 75% vital capacity (FEF75%) and Maximum expiratory flow between 25% to 75% vital capacity (FEF25%-75%). These indices increased in group AT and AT+S, whereas, they showed decrease in group S and C.

Our results indicated that aerobic exercise together with consumption of vitamin D supplementation for 8 weeks could improve the pulmonary function and level of aerobic performance of asthmatic patients and could be considered as a part of pulmonary rehabilitation programs for asthmatic patients.