New research found that vitamin D might help prevent and protect against respiratory tract infections and deaths caused by COVID-19.
Vitamin D Prevents COVID-19 Deaths
Scientists from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia found from a preliminary study that they conducted that still needs peer review that COVID-19 deaths from across Europe were caused by low levels of vitamin D.
The researchers studied existing health literature regarding levels of vitamin D in subjects that they gathered from 20 European countries and compared them with the numbers of death caused by COVID-19 for each country. They found that there is a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2.
People that have the most deficit in vitamin D are also the most vulnerable to COVID-19, according to the preliminary report.
Vitamin D Reduces Respiratory Tract Infections
Other than preventing deaths caused by the COVID-19, studies show that the vitamin that can be produced by the body when exposed to the sun can help reduce respiratory tract infections like influenza, childhood asthma, and tuberculosis.
A member of the fat-soluble compound, the vitamin D can be found in mushrooms, eggs, and fishes. It is produced by our body when a form of cholesterol is exposed to ultraviolet light. It also helps the body absorb calcium into the bones, so without it, calcium just gets eliminated from the body.
A person who is deficient in vitamin D could lead to skeletal deformities like rickets, a deficiency that is more commonly seen in children and is characterized by the softening and weakening of the bones. Apart from that, it could also lead to an increased risk of bone degeneration that is known as osteoporosis.
Researchers are also trying to link the effects of supplementing vitamin D with the immune system because they found that the vitamin could prevent and protect against autoimmune diseases and could serve as receptors for chemicals on various immune cells.
Vitamin D Should Not Be Used as Treatment
While results from studies might sound so positive, medical researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and University of Aberdeen in the UK, Mark J Bolland, and Alison Avenell, respectively, said that the correlation of vitamin D and COVID-19 deaths should only be viewed as a hypothesis as a result of an adequately powered randomized controlled trials.
They also said that now, vitamin D supplementation is a hot topic so there are a lot of arguments going on whether it should be prescribed to people to prevent COVID-19 mortality rates from continuing to go higher.
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not want to use past research to recommend something because it might only apply to a specific number of subjects. To prove that vitamin D supplementation could prevent deaths and respiratory tract infections that are caused by COVID-19, more research is needed.
It is important to take note that even if the results showed positive effects of the said vitamin, one should still not make any premature recommendations on taking the supplement just yet.
