Does Vitamin D3 reduce your risk of COVID-19?
GET OUTSIDE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN !!
Dr. Santizo and Dr. Burris have recommended this to their patients since 2005:
Ask your doctor to measure your Vitamin D3 blood level and make sure it is at 50- 80
Take the appropriate amount, usually 2,000- 5,000 IU daily, to keep it there
Make sure children are taking Vitamin D3 too, as it helps reduce allergy and asthma symptoms
From the medical journal The Lancet May 2020:
Despite difficulties in comparing data across nations, mortality from COVID-19 is clearly higher in some countries than in others. Many factors could have a role in this disparity, including differences in proportion of elderly people in a population, general health, accessibility and quality of healthcare, and socioeconomic status. One mostly overlooked factor that could influence outcome of COVID-19 is the relative vitamin D status of populations. Because people are advised to stay at home as much as possible, the government health agencies of Great Britain have recommended that people take vitamin D supplements through summer and autumn during this pandemic. Vitamin D supplementation could be especially important for older people as they are at high risk of poor outcome from COVID-19 and of vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D has a well-characterised role in calcium and phosphate balance, affecting bone growth and turnover. A higher blood level of D will reduce your risk of osteoporosis. Low vitamin D status is also associated with other non-communicable diseases and with increased susceptibility to infectious disease; notably, upper respiratory tract infections. By Stephen A. Levine, Ph.D.
A role for vitamin D in the response to COVID-19 infection could be twofold. First, vitamin D supports production of antimicrobial peptides in the respiratory epithelium, thus making infection with the virus and development of COVID-19 symptoms less likely. Second, vitamin D might help to reduce the inflammatory response to infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Rose Anne Kenny (Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Ireland) led the cross-sectional study into mortality and vitamin D status. “The circumstantial evidence is very strong”, she proclaims regarding the potential effect on COVID-19 outcomes. Adding, “we don't have randomised controlled trial evidence, but how long do you want to wait in the context of such a crisis? We know vitamin D is important for musculoskeletal function, so people should be taking it anyway”. Kenny recommends that, at the very least, vitamin D supplements are given to care home residents unless there is an extremely good reason not to do so.
Adrian Martineau (Institute of Population Health Sciences, Barts and The London, Queen Mary University of London, UK), lead author of the 2017 meta-analysis has joined with colleagues from universities around the UK to launch COVIDENCE UK, a study to investigate how diet and lifestyle factors might influence transmission of SARS-CoV-2, severity of COVID-19 symptoms, speed of recovery, and any long-term effects. Despite his enthusiasm for the study, Martineau is pragmatic: “At best vitamin D deficiency will only be one of many factors involved in determining outcome of COVID-19, but it's a problem that could be corrected safely and cheaply; there is no downside to speak of, and good reason to think there might be a benefit”.
Reference Article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30183-2/fulltext