By Dr. John Cannell

I have noticed that much of the exciting human research on vitamin D originates in Turkey and Iran. I don’t know why, but researchers in those two countries keep publishing exciting clinical trials.

Take ear infections or acute otitis media.. It is the most common infection that requires medical attention during childhood. AOM is the presence of fluid in the middle ear with acute signs of illness and middle ear inflammation such as bulging, cloudiness or redness of the eardrum. AOM is more common in the winter. It is unknown if it is more or less common based on latitude.

When I was a general practitioner, it was common practice to put all children with AOM on antibiotics. Now, the concern about antibiotic resistance has changed that practice. Research shoes that over 80 percent of ear infections resolve without antibiotics. That means, for example, that about 33 children must be treated with antibiotics to prevent one ruptured eardrum. Also, for every 14 children treated with antibiotics, one child has side effects to the antibiotic, such as vomiting, diarrhea or a rash. So it is now recommended to wait a few days before starting antibiotics and simply treat the ear pain.

In yet another exciting Turkish study, Dr. Atilla Cayir, working under the supervision of senior author Professor Behzat Ozkan at Ataturk University, published an open trial of vitamin D in 84 children with recurrent otitis media.

They studied 79 children, all of whom had either four or more attacks of AOM in one year, or three or more attacks in six months. Mean initial serum 25(OH)D levels in the study group were about 11 ng/mL, and levels under 20 ng/mL were seen in 69 percent of the children, who were between ages one and five.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.