Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is a worldwide pandemic.
“About 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency, while 50% of the population has vitamin D insufficiency. The prevalence of patients with vitamin D deficiency is highest in the elderly, the obese patients, nursing home residents, and hospitalized patients.” (2020) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
Gone are the days Vitamin D was only beneficial for bone health. There are nuclear Vitamin D receptors (VDR’s) in every cell in the body. And they are particularly prominent in all immune cells. These receptors are involved in gene expression and modulation.
Vitamin D is a nutrient, hormone, and immunomodulator.
Common sense dictates, we would be somewhat hampered to fight respiratory infections if vitamin D levels were low. So now the question I ask is,… since a large majority of the population is short on vitamin D, could that be influencing the severity of this virus? Remember, this virus is 10x worse than the flu. And the flu is pretty deadly. 60,000 in the US alone last year. Multiply that by 10 and you can see where we might have been heading, if severe lockdown measures weren’t taken.
Hope that the US government will respond appropriately is rapidly becoming a pipe dream. Even if all the appropriate measures were implemented months ago, it’s hard to say how effective that would have been anyway. China and Singapore, who reacted quickly and effectively to stem the tide, are now dealing with a resurgence. It looks more and more like an effective vaccine,… is our only real answer. So I’m afraid we might be dealing with this, until that happens. We will need to remain vigilant in protecting ourselves.
Vitamin D might help us get through this. It might not stop us from getting infected, but it may help in fighting off the infection, before things get acutely critical. Those who spiral downward with this virus usually end up with Acute Respiratory Disease Syndrome (ARDS). And ARDS has a 40 to 60% mortality rate. It might even be worse. They are saying 80% of those on ventilators don’t make it. And even if you survive ARDS, it can cause permanent damage to the lungs, or take years to fully recover. It is not something you want to deal with. Most in ICU’s are facing this very real danger. And wouldn’t you know,... the vast majority of those who develop ARDS are vitamin D deficient.
Now for the good news. Vitamin D has shown in studies to be beneficial in fighting viruses. In dealing specifically with coronaviruses, it has shown 3 protective ways in improving outcomes. Without getting too scientific,.. (1) It downregulates the rate limiting enzyme (Renin) involved in the cascade that produces the cytokine storm that results in ARDS. Reduce Renin and you stop the very inflammatory escalation. (2) It upregulates another enzyme (ACE2) that is anti-inflammatory and shown to protect against ARDS. One of the reasons COVID-19 is so effective in what it does, is due to downregulating or decreasing ACE2. Therefore leaving nothing to regulate that inflammatory cascade from escalating. (3) Vitamin D also upregulates natural anti-bacterial and anti-viral peptides (Defensins, Cathelicidins) in the innate (first line of attack) immune response. These peptides released by immune cells, attack the virions so they can’t invade healthy cells. All this has been well studied in the past 20 years or so,... ever since they found these VDR’s (vitamin D receptors) on the nuclei inside our cells. They are involved in regulating close to 1,000 genes related to our health. Some of which, clearly demonstrate protective effects against respiratory viruses.
Here is the latest peer reviewed paper published April 2020, showing how vitamin D might be useful in reducing the risk of respiratory tract infections. It is a very thoughtful and thoroughly researched paper… www.mdpi.com/...
This COVID-19 is not much different from other viruses, in that they generally take advantage of the most vulnerable. Those weakened by age, illness, and are immunocompromised. And not surprisingly, the majority of this group is also vitamin D deficient.
There is a reason most viruses fade in the summer. And it has nothing to do with heat or humidity. It has to do with the UVB rays reaching the ground more often at that time of year. Supposedly deactivating viruses. Maybe it’s just a coincidence,... but UVB rays and only UVB rays, are what’s needed to produce vitamin D in your skin.
There is one caveat if one decides to supplement vitamin D. It is recommended not to supplement calcium if you supplement vitamin D, unless under a doctor’s supervision. One of the first benefits shown for vitamin D, was its ability to increase calcium absorption, hence improved bone health. But too much calcium can be harmful. Doctors regularly check levels when doing any blood work. Calcium is one of only a few minerals, or vitamins that doctors check with any regularity. They generally don’t check vitamin D levels unless you ask them.
These are tough and scary times. Recommended blood levels (40 ng/ml) of vitamin D might help us to get through this. Stay safe.