[ad_1]
Vienna. Vitamin D promotes hardening of the bones. It has a special position among vitamins because it can be produced by the body itself, among other things, when the skin is exposed to sunlight. In winter, about half of the population in northern latitudes suffer from vitamin D deficiency, which in the long term can lead to osteoporosis and increase susceptibility to inflammation.
More and more studies confirm that a vitamin D deficiency could also be associated with a more severe course of Covid-19. For example, a US team from the Journal of Medical Virology evaluated studies on nearly 1,400 patients. People with a poor prognosis for lung disease had significantly lower vitamin D levels than those with a good prognosis. However, the researchers point out that other risk factors, such as obesity or diabetes, are also associated with low levels of vitamin D in the blood. Even older people often have too low values.
The Spanish University of Córdoba has shown a direct connection between vitamin D levels and Covid-19. From a group of 76 Covid patients treated in hospital, 50 randomly selected people received two doses of the vitamin D metabolite calcifediol, which is converted into the active vitamin in the body, in addition to standard therapy in the first week and then once a week. week. Neither the patients nor the treating doctors knew who belonged to which group.
Only one of the people treated with Calcifediol had to go to the intensive care unit; was subsequently released. In the other group, 13 patients had to be treated intensively, two of whom died.
The researchers conclude from this statistically significant finding that calcifediol could reduce the severity of Covid-19 disease. However, they point out in the “Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology” that this has yet to be confirmed in larger studies. A similar study with 2,700 people is planned at Harvard Medical School.
Increased inflammation markers
A team from the University of Cantabria in Santander reported in the “Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism” that more than 80 out of 200 Covid 19 patients treated in a hospital in Spain had a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin produced alone in the kidneys affects also on the immune system. In the study, men were more affected by the deficiency than women, but both had elevated markers of inflammation. “The administration of vitamin D could have a positive effect on the course of the disease,” points out study author Jose Hernandez.
Source link
