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Does Vitamin D protect us Against COVID-19?

Viatmin D is a fat soluble vitamin  that is naturally present in very few foods,added to others and available as a dietary supplement.
It is also produced endogenously when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger Vit.D synthesis.
Vitamun D obtained from sun exposure, food and supplements is biologiocally inert and must undergo two hydroxylations in the body for activation. The first occurs in the liver and converts vitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) , also known as calcidol.
The second occurs primarily in the kidney and forms the physiologically active , [1,25(OH)D], also known as calcitrol.
Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralization of bone and to prevent hypocalcemic tetany.
It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodelling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts.
Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.

Vitamin D has other roles in the body . including modulation of cell growth , neuromuscular and immune function and reduction of inflammation.

Who are at risk of Vitamin D Inadequacy?

  • Breastfeed infants
  • Older adults
  • People with limited sun exposure
  • People with dark skin
  • People with inflammatory bowel disease

Vitamin D VS COVID-19

According to The Indian Express the new study shows that Italy and Spain, both of which have experienced high Covid-19 mortality rates , have lower average Vitamin D levels than most northern European countries..

Vitamin D is known to modulate the response of white blood cells, preventing them from releasing too many inflammatory cytokines , and the SARS - CoV2 virus is known to cause an excess of proinflammatory cytokines, called a cytokine storm.

The highest average levels of vitamin D are found in Northern  Europe due to the consumption of cod liver oil and vitamin D supplements and possibly less sun avoidance.

Scandinavian nations are among the countries with the lower number of  Covid-19 cases.

Vitamin D has been shown to protect against acute respiratory infections and older adults, the group most deficient in vitamin D are also the ones most seriously affected by Covid-19.

A previous study found that 75% of people in institutions , such as hospitals and care homes were severely deficient in vitamin D.
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