World News – CA – Over 80% of coronavirus patients had vitamin D deficiency in Spanish hospital

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The evidence continues to show that vitamin D can influence your risk of COVID-19 and the severity of the disease if you get sick

One of the most recent studies on the subject, published today in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, found that 80% of coronavirus patients in a Spanish hospital were deficient in the sun’s vitamin

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The results suggest that identifying and treating COVID-19 patients with vitamin D deficiencies, especially those at high risk of severe cases of COVID-19 such as the elderly, could help improve results

To conduct the study, the researchers compared the vitamin D levels of 216 patients with COVID-19 at the Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital with the levels of 197 healthy people who were similar in terms of data. demographic such as age and gender

The study authors also looked at whether the severity of the illness in hospitalized people correlated with how high or low their vitamin D levels were

Excluding coronavirus patients who took vitamin D supplements, researchers found 822% of COVID-19 patients were vitamin D deficient, compared to just 472% of people in the comparison group In general, the vitamin D levels of men with COVID-19 were lower than those of women

The study authors also found that coronavirus patients with lower vitamin D levels were more likely to have high blood pressure and heart disease, high markers of inflammation, and longer hospital stays.

Interestingly, however, they did not find a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the severity of COVID-19 without significantly higher rates of ICU admissions, ventilator use, or deaths among those who were particularly low in vitamin D

It’s also interesting that the 19 coronavirus patients who took vitamin D supplements had slightly less favorable outcomes, including more ICU admissions, than those who did not take the pills.

However, this finding can be at least somewhat explained by the fact that people who need vitamin D supplementation the most, such as the elderly at risk for fractures, are also those at high risk of COVID. -19 severe Six of those 19 had also taken corticosteroids or immunosuppressants in the previous three months, which could have influenced their severity of COVID-19

The results suggest that « Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in patients with COVID-19 with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood, as this approach could have beneficial effects on the musculo-system. skeletal and immune system, « study co-author José L Hernández, of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain, said in a press release

How vitamin D affects the risk and severity of coronaviruses has been of interest to researchers and healthcare professionals since the start of the pandemic

A study in October of 76 patients with COVID-19, also in Spain, for example, found that those who received a metabolized form of vitamin D3 capable of rapidly increasing vitamin D levels were much less likely to need intensive care, and none of them died, reported Insider’s Gabby Landsverk

This is compared to the 26 patients who did not receive the supplement, of whom 13 were admitted to intensive care and two of whom died

Another study in Italy in August found that after 10 days of hospitalization, around half of 42 patients with severe vitamin D deficiency died, while only 5% of patients with high vitamin D levels Sufficient dies

Other research conducted around the world has found that higher levels of vitamin D correlate with milder illnesses, and that countries that have high levels of vitamin D also tend to have levels of vitamin D. lower mortality rates from COVID-19

The link makes sense because vitamin D is known to boost the body’s ability to fight viruses and can help calm cytokine storms, or when the immune system overreacts to a viral invasion – which affects many patients with severe COVID-19, Business Insider’s Susie Neilson reported

But other variables could be played; For example, people who live in overcrowded housing or work long hours indoors on essential jobs are both less likely to get enough vitamin D from the sun and more likely to be exposed to COVID- 19

Still, getting enough – but not too much – vitamin D, whether through sunlight, supplements, or certain foods like oily fish, is important not only for its potential protection against the coronavirus, but for the overall health

Deficiencies are also linked to heart disease, diabetes, immune system disorders, certain types of cancer and bone problems such as osteoporosis

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Coronavirus, vitamin D deficiency