While taking vitamin supplements is an easy way for individuals to maintain adequate nutrient levels, researchers are saying that it may also be a simple way to improve long-term outcomes among adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

A team of Belgian scientists announced this phenomenon at the American Thoracic Society’s 2011 International Conference in Denver, Colorado.

In the U.S., more than 12 million individuals suffer from COPD, which is a progressive disease that causes excess mucus production and breathing difficulties, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Researchers from the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium, stated that based on analyses of blood taken from hundreds of patients with COPD, many people with the disease have vitamin D deficiencies, probably due to poor diet and little time spent walking or exercising outdoors.

The team also noted that among 50 individuals treated with vitamin D, those that took a 100,000-international-unit monthly doses were better able to exercise.

“These results support the idea that correcting vitamin D deficiency by adding vitamin D supplements to training programs allows COPD patients to achieve better results from rehabilitation,” team member Miek Hornikx said.

Taking dietary supplements is an effective way to get the vitamin D that may be missing from one’s diet.