COVID-19 patients who take enough vitamin D less likely to die of infection, study finds

People who get enough vitamin D are at a 52 per cent lower risk of dying of COVID-19 than people who are deficient for the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ new research reveals.

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the immune system and may combat inflammation. These features may make it a key player in the body’s fight against coronavirus.

Rates of vitamin D deficiency are also higher in some of the same groups who have been hardest hit by coronavirus: people of colour and elderly people. It’s by no means a causal link but suggests that vitamin D could play a role in who gets COVI-19, who gets sickest from it, and who is spared altogether.

Boston University’s Dr Michael Holick found in his previous research that people who have enough vitamin D are 54 per cent less likely to catch coronavirus in the first place.

Following on that work, he and his team have found that people who don’t get enough of the vitamin are far more likely to become severely ill, develop sepsis or even die after contracting coronavirus.

Because vitamin D deficiency is common in people with other diseases that raise coronavirus risks, it’s impossible to say exactly how many lives would be spared if we all got our daily dose of the sunshine vitamin.

But we know that about 42 per cent of the US population is vitamin D deficient. If that rate held true for the more 203,000 Americans who died of coronavirus, perhaps some 85,000 would have fared better with improved vitamin D levels.

In Britain 20 per cent of the population suffer from the deficiency, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. When the rate is applied to the UK’s 41,936 deaths from coronavirus, it suggests 8,387 of them could have been helped with improved levels of Vitamin D.
People who get enough vitamin D are at a 52 per cent lower risk of dying of COVID-19 than people who are deficient for the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ new research reveals.

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the immune system and may combat inflammation. These features may make it a key player in the body’s fight against coronavirus.

Rates of vitamin D deficiency are also higher in some of the same groups who have been hardest hit by coronavirus: people of colour and elderly people. It’s by no means a causal link but suggests that vitamin D could play a role in who gets COVI-19, who gets sickest from it, and who is spared altogether.

Boston University’s Dr Michael Holick found in his previous research that people who have enough vitamin D are 54 per cent less likely to catch coronavirus in the first place.

Following on that work, he and his team have found that people who don’t get enough of the vitamin are far more likely to become severely ill, develop sepsis or even die after contracting coronavirus.

Because vitamin D deficiency is common in people with other diseases that raise coronavirus risks, it’s impossible to say exactly how many lives would be spared if we all got our daily dose of the sunshine vitamin.

But we know that about 42 per cent of the US population is vitamin D deficient. If that rate held true for the more 203,000 Americans who died of coronavirus, perhaps some 85,000 would have fared better with improved vitamin D levels.

In Britain 20 per cent of the population suffer from the deficiency, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. When the rate is applied to the UK’s 41,936 deaths from coronavirus, it suggests 8,387 of them could have been helped with improved levels of Vitamin D.

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