Higher vitamin A linked to better lung function in sickle cell anemia

Study involved 70 children and adolescents with SCA

Higher vitamin A levels in the blood were significantly associated with better lung function in children and adolescents with sickle cell anemia (SCA), the most common and severe form of sickle cell disease (SCD), a small study shows.

Given that vitamin A levels tend to be low in children with SCA and lung disease is a common and serious complication of SCA, the findings “open the potential door for the introduction of vitamin A supplements in the routine care of children with SCA to maintain normal pulmonary [lung] function,” the researchers wrote.