Check out these articles:
Could Boosting Vitamin D Cut COVID-19 Risk? — Observational study suggests there may be a link between the two
Casting Sunlight on an Epidemic
Note statements from these two articles:
- Some people will experience minimal effects from COVID-19 because their immune system can efficiently fight off the infection.
- ...a lack of sun-induced vitamin D in the winter and early spring leads to epidemic acute respiratory infections (and this probably includes viruses like COVID-19). That review, cited almost a thousand times, argued that groups with low vitamin D levels -- the obese and the elderly and those with dark skin -- may require 5,000 IU of vitamin D each day to obtain the 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of 50 ng/mL that appear to protect against viral respiratory infection. [I haven't been sick in years and I attribute it to Vitamin D3 and Vitamin C, eating right, and moving!]
- ...vitamin D supplementation is safe and that it protects against acute respiratory tract infection. The benefit is greatest in subjects receiving weekly or daily vitamin D, and greatest in those who are deficient. [You can overdose on Vitamin D but it isn't easy. My family doctor checks the levels at my annual check and I'm in the normal range taking 2,000 to 4,000 IUs every day.]
- Patients with "likely deficient" vitamin D status had nearly doubled risk of testing positive for COVID-19 versus those with "likely sufficient" vitamin D, a single-center study found.
- The authors pointed to prior research suggesting a link between vitamin D and a decrease in other viral respiratory infections, and also noted vitamin D deficiency is "common." In particular, they cited the potential of shelter-in-place orders to decrease sun exposure, augmenting the need for vitamin D supplementation. [Keeping kids inside is insane. Get them out swimming and biking and playing. Sheltering in place likely will increase the risk of a second wave. Go sit in the sun!]
- Aggressively identifying and treating people with vitamin D deficiency is one potential strategy to reduce the risk of COVID-19. As outlined in the BMJ review, regularly taking oral vitamin D3 mitigates infection. [I have my sister in the nursing home taking Vitamin D3 and Vitamin C. She has COPD and needs all the help she can get to minimize her risk of getting sick.]
Take responsibility for your own health and be your own advocate. That's the safest strategy to defend against the Wuhan virus.
You can't overdose on sunlight vitamin d. And you *can* store up sunlight vitamin d for the winter. So grab those rays while it's still summer!
ReplyDeleteYou are a good sister! I live in the northern tundra of the Midwest so I take a lot of Vitamin D.
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Katie
I've been taking quality vitamins daily for many years, I never even get a cold. Eat right, get enough rest, just like mom said.
ReplyDelete