What’s the scoop on Vitamin D and COVID?
There are now several studies to suggest that it has a protective effect against severe COVID. This isn’t entirely surprising as Vitamin D has been shown to play a role in our immune system’s ability to respond and has shown to have a protective effect related to several illnesses. This blog will cover a recent study that came out of Israel.
What did they do?
The study in Israel was a retrospective study designed to assess the relationship, if any, between pre-infection levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and severity of disease and mortality. It’s easy to do retrospective studies in Israel because their electronic medical record system is robust. In this study, they looked at medical records of patients admitted to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Israel between April 7th’20 and February 4th’ 21 with a positive PCR test for COVID-19. Specifically they looked for their 25(OH)D levels measured 14-730 days prior to the positive PCR test. The researchers categorized the Vitamin D levels as deficient; insufficient; adequate; and high-normal.
What did they find?
Of 1176 patients admitted, 253 patients had a recorded 25(OH)D level prior to getting COVID-19. In general, a lower Vitamin D (<20 ng/ml) status was more common in patients with severe or critical disease (87.4%) than in individuals with mild/moderate disease (34.3%). This finding was statistically significant. Patients deficient in Vitamin D (Levels below 20 ng/ml) were 14 times more likely to have severe or critical disease than patients with 25(OH)D levels that were greater than 40 ng/ml. The study clearly showed that among hospitalized COVID patients during the designated time period, pre-infection levels of Vitamin D were significantly associated with disease severity and mortality.
What about age?
The strongest correlation between lower pre-infection Vitamin D levels and more severe COVID-19 was seen in patients over 50. In patients under 50, the relationship was still significant, but not as strong.
What about BMI?
Obesity has been shown to be an independent risk factor for more severe COVID-19. (You can listen to a Causes or Cures podcast I did with two researchers on this topic here.) It is also associated with lower Vitamin D levels. However, in this study, there was not a strong association between low Vitamin D levels and a patient’s BMI. (I want to note that I am fully aware that the BMI is not the best or most accurate measurement for obesity. It just happens to be the best, most cost-effective measure to use at the population level.)
Thanks for reading. You may also enjoy checking out the following blogs:
Hamsters may have caused a COVID outbreak in Hong Kong
Natural Immunity? Shh…don’t say those words.
Don’t forget to check out my health podcast- Causes or Cures!
See you soon.
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Thanks Dr E! I wish more of our world population would read this and begin making change. Go outside and make change.