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Patients with sufficient levels of vitamin D are less likely to experience complications and die from COVID-19, according to a new study in the US, while another found that it also reduces infection rates.
Vitamin D sufficiency was linked to significantly lower levels of inflammatory markets and higher levels of immune cells in the blood, in new research from the Boston University School of Medicine.
Higher levels of lymphocytes were associated with a reduction in cytokine storms – the release of too much protein into the blood too quickly, which is one of the ways in which coronavirus infections can kill.
Blood samples were taken to measure vitamin D levels from 235 patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19explained the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
These patients were followed up to determine clinical outcomes, including the severity of their infections, if they lost consciousness, if they had difficulty breathing to the point of becoming hypoxic, or if they died.
In patients older than 40 years, those who had sufficient levels of vitamin D were more than 51% less likely to die than patients with deficiency.
According to Dr. Michael Holick, who recently published another study that found that enough vitamin D can reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus by 54%, the vitamin can also help against other viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract.
“There is great concern that the combination of an influenza infection and a coronal viral infection could substantially increase hospitalizations and deaths due to complications from these viral infections,” said Dr. Holick.
“Because vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is so widespread in children and adults in the US and around the world, especially in the winter months, it is prudent for everyone to take a vitamin D supplement to reduce risk of infection and complications from COVID-19. “, he added.
