Vitamin D would help our body better withstand Covid-19

What if vitamin D played a role in the spread of Covid-19? This is an observation proposed by researchers at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, in Santander (Spain). They realized that nearly 80% of patients with Covid-19 had vitamin D deficiencies. The results of their study were published on October 27, 2020 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Vitamin D, present in large quantities in eggs, milk, fatty fish and their oils, provides various functions in the body. Thanks to it, it is possible to strengthen our immune system and better protect our bones, our cells, our muscles and our heart.

White blood cell support

Last May, theNational Academy of Medicine highlights the benefits of vitamin D “in the regulation and suppression of the cytokine inflammatory response at the origin of the acute respiratory distress syndrome which characterizes the severe and often lethal forms of Covid-19”. This “cytokine storm” that plays out in our body is the result of a deficiency in the immune system. When this is overwhelmed, it produces hyperinflammation which strongly prevents the patient from breathing properly. In this case, vitamin D would support white blood cells to limit this famous storm.

In this study, Spanish researchers analyzed the vitamin D levels of 216 coronavirus patients admitted to Santander hospital between March 10 and March 31, 2020. Their vitamin D levels were compared with those of 197 other patients (test group) distributed throughout the country. Of the 216 people hospitalized, 19 had received vitamin D-enriched supplements more than three months before admission to hospital.

Better results with vitamin D

Of all patients hospitalized for cases of Covid-19, 82% of them had a vitamin D deficiency, when this rate did not exceed 47% for the control group. In addition, vitamin D deficiency was much more marked in men than in women. In people who had received vitamin D supplements, the results were more favorable, and their admissions to intensive care were much fewer.

“Many factors may explain why men with Covid-19 have lower vitamin D levels than womensays Jose Hernandez, co-author of the study and doctor of neurophysiology at the University of Cantabria, located in Santander. This can be played out in particular in lifestyle habits, diet or other comorbidities.”

The research team became interested in vitamin D because they had hypothesized that it may play a role in Covid-19 infection. According to them, these results show undeniably that a vitamin D deficiency is also the cause of infections such as influenza or hepatitis C.

Use vitamin D as a preventive treatment

However, although they were able to establish a link between vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 infection, this does not explain the severity of the disease. “The most severe forms of Covid-19 are characterized by a hyperinflammatory state, called a ‘cytokine storm’, which occurs within the first week of symptom onset, and which has led to acute respiratory distress syndrome and to other organic complications resulting in increased mortalityemphasizes Jose Hernandez. We also noticed that Covid-19 patients with vitamin D deficiencies had higher serum ferritin and D-dimer levels, which are markers of this hyperinflammatory response..”

According to Jose Hernandez, given the low cost of vitamin D treatments, it would be wise to treat healthy but deficient people with vitamin D. According to him, this treatment should be given priority to the elderly and those at risk. to develop serious forms of Covid-19.