Add another disorder to the list linked to vitamin D deficiency: severe asthma. A study published this week in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine suggests that lower vitamin D levels are associated with more severe asthma.

The study has already been picked up in media outlets across North America. Authors are quick to caution that they don’t know what the cause-and-effect nature of the relationship is for certain, but theorize that it has to do with vitamin D’s positive effect on the immune system and the muscular tissue in the lungs.

“This is just one more example of why humans are intended to have natural vitamin D levels that are only consistent with regular sun exposure and why ‘sun scare’ groups promoting over-use of sunscreen are simply dead wrong,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said.

WebMD has complete coverage of the study. To read the webMD article, click here.