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The COVID-19 patients observed in this study were hospitalized at the Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital in the Spanish city of Santander.
Vitamin D is a hormone produced by the kidneys that controls calcium concentration in the blood and affects the immune system, according to a statement from the Society of Endocrinology, which brings together more than 18,000 experts from 122 countries.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a variety of health problems, and the scientific community is still investigating why.
Furthermore, more and more studies report the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially in terms of protection against infections.
In this regard, Jose L. Hernandez, of the Spanish University of Cantabria, believes that vitamin D deficiency should be identified and treated, especially among risk groups such as the elderly and patients with comorbidities.
Vitamin D treatment should be recommended for patients with COVID-19 who have low levels of this hormone in their blood, as it “could have beneficial effects on both the muscular and immune systems,” notes the expert.
The researchers found that 82.2 percent of the 216 COVID-19 patients at Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla lacked vitamin D and that men had lower levels than women.
Researchers found no link between vitamin D concentrations or deficiency and disease severity. The authors acknowledge that the study has some limitations, as it was conducted in a single hospital, so the data cannot be generalized or applied to other ethnicities or countries.
However, this is an observational study and the possibility that vitamin D treatment may play a role in the prevention of this disease or in improving the prognosis of patients with COVID-19 will need to be clarified in other large-scale randomized controlled trials.
“These studies are needed to accurately define the role of supplements with this vitamin in future waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections,” the authors summarize.
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