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11/20/2022

Covid19 - Vitamin D May Help In Covid-19 Fight, Studies Show

15 Sept 2020| Tomorrow's Medicine, The Straits Times

Multiple studies suggest that having adequate amounts of vitamin D may play a role in helping people stave off or combat the coronavirus, although the jury is still out on whether the results are conclusive or why this is so.

Commonly known as the "sunshine vitamin", vitamin D, which is known for its immune-boosting function, is mainly made in the skin when it is exposed to the ultraviolet B rays of the sun. It can also be obtained from other sources such as eggs, liver and oily fish.

At least one overseas study has associated vitamin D deficiency with a higher risk of Covid-19.

Published in medical journal JAMA Network Open on Sept 3, the study observed 489 patients from the University of Chicago Medicine health system, about a third of whom had vitamin D deficiency.

Patients with vitamin D deficiency and who were not given treatment for it were 1.77 times more likely to test positive for Covid-19 than those who were not.

The study also noted that other research had found that Covid-19 was less prevalent in groups that had lower rates of vitamin D deficiency.

Lockdowns and other measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 could also decrease exposure to the sun, the researchers pointed out.

They added: "The low costs of vitamin D and its general safety... support arguments for population-level supplementation, perhaps for targeting groups at high risk for vitamin D deficiency and/or Covid-19."

A similar call was made in medical journal The Lancet on Aug 3 by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Queen Mary University of London.

Citing several other studies on the subject, as well as vitamin D's ability to protect against other acute respiratory infections, the researchers called for more trials to investigate whether the vitamin could help reduce the severity of Covid-19.

They also suggested increasing efforts to ensure members of the public have sufficient vitamin D.

"There is a chance that (such efforts) might also reduce the impact of Covid-19 in populations where vitamin D deficiency is prevalent; there is nothing to lose from their implementation, and potentially much to gain," they wrote.

Closer to home, another study analysed 43 Covid-19 patients aged 50 and above at Singapore General Hospital.

Published in the science journal Nutrition last week, it found that treating such patients with a combination of vitamin D, magnesium and vitamin B12 was associated with a "significant reduction" in the number of those who went on to require oxygen support or admission to intensive care.