Vitamin K is one of the least-studied vitamins, though that has been changing lately, largely due to the studies showing vitamin K is crucial for bone and cardiovascular health, leading to its approval in Asian countries as a pharma drug for treating osteoporosis. In addition, recent studies in Western countries have led to the FDA considering approving vitamin K as treatment for liver cancer as well as several other malignancies (especially hematological ones). Despite all those studies, the role of vitamin K in pulmonary health is virtually completely unexplored, probably due to the fact that the scientific establishment does not expect that a coagulation and bone controlling vitamin has anything to do with lung function. The study below demonstrates that vitamin K is indeed very important for lung health and low dietary levels can drive conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), while raising dietary levels may wards off such diseases and maybe even treat them. One need only look at the vitamin K molecule to realize that is is a quinone, and as such is crucial for redox balance, OXPHOS, and systemic energy production. In addition, vitamin K has known anti-estrogenic effects and estrogen has a known causative and promoting role in pulmonary conditions such as COPD.
https://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2023/06/29/23120541.00208-2023
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/08/10/vitamin-K-lungs-health/2591691672872/
“…It may not get the publicity of some better-known vitamins like D, but vitamin K — found in leafy green vegetables — may boost lung health. A new, large study — published Thursday in ERJ Open Research — suggests that people who have low levels of this vitamin also have less healthy lungs. They are more likely to report having asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and wheezing. “Our results suggest that vitamin K could play a part in keeping our lungs healthy,” said researcher Dr. Torkil Jespersen of Copenhagen University Hospital and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.”
