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Can Vitamin D Protect From The Corona Virus?
Whether vitamin D can be used to protect against disease with COVID-19 has been controversial so far. The following article summarizes previous findings on the protective effect of vitamin D on corona virus.
Vitamin D deficiency is widespread
In winter, in particular, many people suffer from vitamin D deficiency because usually vitamin D is mainly formed by sun exposure on the skin, and a deficiency can easily occur due to lack of sunlight in winter. In addition, the skin’s vitamin D synthesis ability unfortunately decreases with age, which favors vitamin D deficiency in the elderly.
Get Vitamin D Through Diet
In addition to sunlight, the food you eat is also an important source of vitamin D. Some high-fat foods such as salmon, tuna and liver contain vitamin D. There are also special diets that are fortified with vitamin D. These include, for example, margarine, mushrooms, and chanterelles. However, only a small percentage of the daily requirement of vitamin D is obtained through diet.
Gene distribution of vitamin D supplements?
Health authorities in England are set to distribute free vitamin D supplements to more than 25 million vulnerable people this winter. These are mainly people in old people’s homes. Vitamin D intake is more important for people this year because most people spend less time outside. Therefore, the government decided to provide vitamin D to very vulnerable people. Alison Tedstone of Public Health England told the BBC News Channel.
Vitamin D protects muscles and bones
Vitamin D is very important for bones and muscles, and also has a protective effect against respiratory infections. If there is a deficiency, it means taking vitamin D supplements. However, in this case, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) warns against overuse. It can also lead to nausea, kidney, heart and circulatory problems.
Kovid-19: Patients are often deficient in vitamin D.
A study from April 2020 showed that people affected by COVID-19 are often deficient in vitamin D. Another study from the University of Cantabria in Santander found that 82.2 percent of people with COVID-19 were vitamin D deficient. In the control group of people without disease caused by the corona virus, the value was only 47.2 percent.
Reasons to increase risk
Researchers have found that people with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to have high blood pressure and heart disease. In addition, people with the disease had higher serum ferritin and troponin levels and spent more time in the hospital than those with 25OHD levels 20 ng / mL.
However, researchers at the University of Cantabria also found no link between vitamin D concentration or vitamin deficiency and disease severity.
Effect of Vitamin D on Respiratory Tract Infections?
Vitamin D is known to benefit bones, so it is often prescribed to prevent osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis. Studies conducted exclusively on children in Asia have shown that vitamin D can modulate certain immune functions in respiratory infections.
This suggests a link between vitamin D and COVID-19. However, experts believe it is premature to say that vitamin D protects against COVID-19. During this time, some research groups around the world found that people with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to develop COVID-19. However, this is not conclusive evidence of causation.
Results of further investigations
Another study found that children with COVID-19 had lower average vitamin D levels than the control group of healthy children. However, no children with chronic illness participated in the study. The results suggest that vitamin D levels may be linked to the formation of COVID-19.
Serious COVID-19 Disease Due To Vitamin D Deficiency?
Researchers at the German University of Hohnheim analyzed the results of 30 studies related to COVID-19 and vitamin D. It found that people with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have a severe course of COVID-19 disease than people with normal vitamin D values.
However, researchers point out that current vitamin D deficiency is associated with a number of other pre-existing diseases, which may affect the risk of COVID-19. (As)
Author and source information
This text corresponds to the requirements of the medical literature, medical guidelines, and current studies, and has been reviewed by medical professionals.
Sources:
- BBC: Kovid: Vitamin D tablets for 2.5 million vulnerable people in England (verfentlicht 30.11.2020), BBC
- Robert Koch Institute: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Vitamin D from the Robert Koch Institute (until January 25, 2019), RKI
- Ali Daneshkha, Vasundhara Agarwal, Adam Eshine, Hariharan Subramanian, Hemant K. Roy, Vadim Backman: Possible role of vitamin D in suppressing cytokine storm and associated deaths in Kovid-19 patients, medRxiv (veröffentlicht 30.04.2020)
- Jose L. Hernandez, Daniel Nahn, Marta Fernandes-Ayala, Mait Garcia-Ansueta, Miguel A. Hernandez-Hernandez (2020), JCEM
- Camille Yelmas, Velatt: Is vitamin D deficiency a risk factor for COVID-19 in children ?, in Pediatric Pulmonology (verfentlicht 05.10.2020), Pediatric Pulmonology
- Hans K. Byzelski: Vitamin D deficiency and morbidity in Kovid-19 patients – a lethal link ?, NFS Journal (verfentlicht Volume 20, August 2020, Pages 10-21)
Important Note:
This article is for general guidance only and should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-medication. There is no substitute for a doctor’s visit.
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