New Scientist reporting on Aug 3 Lancet publication
If newspaper headlines are to be believed, there’s a simple way to protect ourselves from the coronavirus: take a daily vitamin D tablet. Some say the benefits are so great that people should take mega-doses. But the scientific evidence doesn’t back up the claims. What should we believe?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble compound made in the skin through the action of sunlight, and is also found in foods such as oily fish. It is chiefly known for building strong bones, but also plays a role in the immune system, including helping to kill virus-infected cells.
Some studies had previously suggested that taking vitamin D tablets wards off respiratory infections like coughs and colds, but in June the UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) concluded that the evidence is not strong enough to support such an effect. However, it does advise taking a daily supplement for bone health, as do many other health bodies.
What about covid-19? Several respected researchers have said that vitamin D has potential to protect people from getting being infected with covid-19 in the first place or if they are infected, help to reduce their illness, and some supporting evidence has started to accrue.
However most is in the form of observational studies, which can be misleading because they don’t prove low vitamin D causes infections, just that it correlates with them. For instance, one study to make headlines last week found that people admitted to hospital with covid-19 had half the risk of death if they had adequate vitamin D levels, was of this type.
A third factor could be causing both low vitamin D and susceptibility to the virus, for instance obesity, as the vitamin is stored in fat tissue.
Read more: The truth about supplements: do they work and should you take them?
The best way to assess the benefits of vitamin D supplements would be trials giving people with covid-19 the vitamin to see if can help treat their symptoms. One recent such study from Spain found that people in hospital with covid-19 who received high doses of vitamin D were much less likely to need intensive care than those who did not receive it.
However, the study was quite small, involving just 76 people, and there happened to be more cases of high blood pressure in the group that got no vitamin D, which would have made their prognosis worse. But even when the results are corrected for that difference, there was still a large effect, says José Manuel Quesada Gómez at the Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía in Córdoba, Spain, who was involved in the study.
The trial also only tells us that Vitamin D seems to work as a treatment for hospital patients, not that it works as a prevention method for the public. It is promising, but a larger study is needed, says Susan Lanham-New, who is a member of SACN.
Regardless of its impact on covid-19, there is one thing that all experts seem to agree on: most people in temperate climates like in the UK become vitamin D deficient over winter, when the sun is too weak to prompt production of the vitamin in the skin. And so, if only to support strong bones, most people should take a standard vitamin D supplement every day, from October onwards in the northern hemisphere.
If people are concerned about coronavirus and want to take double the daily recommended dose, it is unlikely to do harm, says Lanham-New. “The most important thing is to avoid vitamin D deficiency.”
Journal reference: The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, DOI: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30268-0
See also in VitaminDWiki
COVID-19 news
COVID-19 and Dark Skins
COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D - studies, reports, videos
As of April 18 the page had: 34 trials, 5 trial results, 17 meta-analyses and reviews, 55 observations, 34 recommendations, 53 associations, 86 speculations, 43 videos see related: Governments, HealthProblems, Hospitals, Dark Skins, 26 risk factors are ALL associated with low Vit D, Recent Virus pages Fight COVID-19 with 50K Vit D weekly
and has the following recent updates
Top Vitamin D and COVID-19 recent updates
- COVID-19 risks reduced by Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, Resveratrol, Omega-3, etc.
- Long-haul COVID-19 - another hint that Vitamin D should help - Dec 2020
- 6X less risk of COVID-19 ICU if Vitamin D and Vit B12 and Mg – Jan 2021
- Vitamin D supplementation and high levels reduce COVID-19 deaths in elderly – Review April 17, 2021
- Severe childhood COVID-19 associated with Vitamin D deficiency (hospital in Finland) – March 2021
- Kidney patients who happened to be getting high-dose Calcitriol were 9X less likely to die of COVID-19 - April 6, 2021
- Overview of reviews of COVID-19 and vitamin D, etc. – April 2021
- Less COVID-19 infection, mortality in countries with higher Vitamin D (Asia in this case) – May 2021
- COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in the US, especially in those with dark skins - April 1, 2021
- Children with COVID-19 and low levels of Vitamin D have more severe cases – March 31, 2021
- Risk of COVID-19 death was 4.9 X higher if very low vitamin D – March 31, 2021 17th mortality observation
- Diabetes has many bidirectional links with COVID-19 – March 2021
- Diabetes is one of the 26 health risks identified by the CDC for getting COVID-19 - ALL of which are associated with low vitamin D
- COVID-19 was 2.6X more severe if very low Vitamin D (43 studies) – meta-analysis March 26, 2021
- To protect against COVID-19, how much vitamin D – 20 to 50 ng – March 19, 2021
- COVID-19 mortality for Parkinson’s is 1 in 5, speculates that vitamin D could help - March 18, 2021
- Prefer 40 – 60 ng of Vitamin D to minimize COVID-19 – March 17, 2021
- The lower the Vitamin D, the worse the COVID-19 (600 in Turkey)– March 2021
- COVID-19 prognostic indicators in plasma extrapolate to zero if Vitamin D is 40 to 80 ng – March 2021
- COVID public health messages 1, 2, and 3 should be - vitamin d vitamin d, vitamin d (video and transcript) - Mar 5, 2021
- COVID-19 mortality 2X higher if low Vitamin D (Mexican hospital, preprint) - March 2021
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and long-haul COVID-19
- low vitamin D, autoimmune and cytokine storms may be involved on both
- 2.1 X more COVID-19 deaths in European countries with less than 20 ng of vitamin D – March 12, 2021
- Supporting non-standard but proven ways to fight COVID-19 can result in job loss – March 2021
- 3X less likely to die of COVID-19 if good level of vitamin D (seniors in Boston)– March 8, 2021
- Low Vitamin D associated with 2.7X more severe COVID-19 – 12th MA March 5, 2021
- COVID-19 fought by Vitamin D or Heat - Drs Seheult and Patrick video - March 3, 2021
- Vitamin D Deficiency and Covid-19: Book by Drs Anderson and Grimes - July 2020
- Vitamin D recommendations for COVID-19 – Spanish Geriatrics Society – March 2021
- 250,000 FREE bottles of vitamin D to fight COVID-19 by Dr. Murray at iHerb – March 3 2021 Dr. Oz show
- Vitamin D and COVID-19 webinar - Feb 24, 2021
- Mongolia's National Vitamin D3 Program started in 2019
- COVID-19 what it is, prevention by Functional Nutrition doctor - Feb 2021
- Vitamin D reduced COVID-19 inflammation (60,000 IU daily for 8 days) - RCT Feb 2021
- All COVID-19 in ICU had low vitamin D, no difference in outcome if low vs very low – Feb 2021
- Low-cost Ivermectin and Vitamin D fight COVID-19 – Marik video 1 hr – Feb 18, 2021
- Low vitamin D associated with COVID-19 problems in NYC hospitals – Feb 2021
- All COVID-19 patients had low vitamin D, the lowest were more likely to die – Feb 18, 2021
- 200,000 IU of Vitamin D can not catch up when COVID-19 has a 10 day head start – RCT Feb 17, 2021
- 5X less likely to enter ICU with COVID-19 if get Calcifediol (semi-activated vitamin D) - RCT Feb 19, 2021
- Ultra-Orthodox Jews have high levels of COVID-19 (and ultra low Vitamin D ) - Feb 2021
- c19study.com/d Summary of Vitamin D and COVID studies (the following is updated automatically)
- Vitamin D can prevent severe COVID-19 in Latin America too – review Feb 1, 2021
- Vitamin D and COVID-19: 1 hour simple video - Jan 31, 2021
- Higher vitamin D in a country is associated with fewer COVID-19 cases (in Asia) Feb 3, 2021 44th association
- Vitamin-D and COVID-19: time for the profession to take a stand – Jan 20, 2021
- Roll Call of Credible Experts Advocating Vitamin D for COVID-19 - Jan 26, 2021
- Call for immediate action - Fight COVID-19 with vitamin D (up to 4,000 IU) - Jan 28, 2021
- Vitamin D, Zinc, etc. look promising for COVID-19 (Holick) – Jan 25, 2021
- Heavy Smokers 2.2 X more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 (they typically have 10 ng less Vitamin D) Jan 25 FREE PDF
- Vitamin D plus Inositol might help pregnancies during COVID-19 – April 2021
- MATH plus protocol for COVID-19 includes Calcifediol or Vitamin D - Jan 2021
- Vitamin D supplementation fights COVID-19 – 11th meta-analysis Jan 24, 2021
- Vitamin D helps the immune system fight COVID-19 – video Jan 21, 2021
- COVID-19 2.7 X more likely to be severe if less than 8 ng of vitamin D (China) – Jan 2021
- 2.7 fewer COVID-19 hospital deaths in those having more than 30 ng of vitamin D – Mayo Jan 9, 2021
- Vitamin D Help Us Fight Infections - interview of Dr. Thakkar (transcript) Jan 20, 2021
- COVID-19 onset strongly associated with latitude in Europe (Vitamin D)– Jan 21, 2021
- France: 73 experts and 6 academies recommend vitamin D to prevent COVID-19 Jan 19, 2021
- Worse COVID-19 patients got 400,000 IU of vitamin D, deaths cut in half – Jan 14, 2021
- Vitamin D-COVID interview by Dr. Campbell of Davies (member of UK Parliament) - Jan 17, 2021
- Iranians with COVID-19 were 2.3 X more likely to die if low vitamin D – Jan 2021
- Many COVID-19 risks are associated with low vitamin D (7 studies) – Systematic Review Jan 2021
- 40 ng of Vitamin D to fight COVID 15K to 50K weekly or 100K monthly - Spanish Jan 2021
- Poor COVID-19 prognosis was 6 X more likely if low vitamin D – Jan 21, 2021
- Unraveling the roles of vitamin D status and melanin during COVID-19 (Review) Jan 11
- 30 x fewer COVID-19 deaths in those getting 400,000 IU of Vitamin D - Jan 2021
- 2.8 X fewer COVID-19 nursing home deaths if add 10,000 IU Vitamin D daily for a week (small observation)- Jan 2021
- 3.7 X less likely to die of COVID-19 if supplemented with Vitamin D - meta-analysis Jan 5, 2021
- COVID-19 test positive 4.5 X more likely if had low vitamin D test within 4 years – Jan 6, 2021
- Don’t Let COVID-19 Patients Die With Vitamin D Deficiency - Jan 5, 2021
- Less likely to test positive for COVID-19 if higher Vitamin D – meta-analysis Jan 6, 2021
- Vitamin D reduces COVID-19 by 80 percent - anonymous meta-analysis - Jan 5, 2021
- COVID 19 Video - Drs. Seheult and Campbell : Lessons Learned and a Look Ahead - Jan 4
- Many drugs increase ACE2 and COVID-19 (176 page review) - Dec 2020
- Italian nursing home COVID-19 – 4X less likely to die if taking Vitamin D– Dec 22, 2020
- Take 50,000 IU of Vitamin D weekly before and after COVID-19 vaccination by VItaminDWiki
- COVID-19 lung infection upsets Vitamin D genes (so more or different form of Vit D is required) - Dec 22, 2020
- COVID-19 Disease and Vitamin D: A Mini-Review – Dec 15, 2020
- French Consensus – 200,000 IU of Vitamin D if get COVID-19 – Dec 22, 2020
- Rational approach to COVID-19: 50k-100k of Vitamin D weekly – Dec 2020
- Shift workers 2X more likely to get COVID-19 (low Vitamin D) - Dec 2020
- COVID-19 plus pneumonia in ICU with low vitamin D equaled Death - Dec 2020
- Excellent on-going analysis of Vitamin D and COVID-19 publications
- Those getting intermittent vitamin D were 7 X less likely to die of COVID-19 - Dec 11, 2020
- COVID-19 patients with low vitamin D had far fewer natural killer cells – Dec 2020
- COVID-19 Vitamin D: Overview of Evidence by Dr. Seheult (Video and transcript) - Dec 10, 2020
- 75 articles indicate that Vitamin D should fight COVID-19 – Evidence Review Dec 10, 2020
- COVID-19 Vitamin D: Overview by Dr. in Sri Lanka (Video and transcript) - Dec 8, 2020
- Vitamin D recommended to fight COVID-19 by 2 groups – Dec 7, 2020
- Vitamin D helps athletes while reducing their COVID-19 risk - Dec 4, 2020
- 5X more likely to test positive for COVID-19 if low vitamin D in previous 5 years (900,000 people) - Dec 4, 2020
- 5.8 X more likely to die of COVID-19 if low vitamin D - Systematic Review Dec 3, 2020
- Evidence of Vitamin D fighting COVID-19 etc. - take 4,000 IU if less than 20 ng (UK) – Dec 1, 2020
- 3.8 X higher risk of COVID-19 death if low vitamin D – Belgium Nov 25, 2020
- Hyperglycemic 2X more likely to have severe COVID-19 - Nov 2020 Diabetes
- A Medical School COVID-19 protocol includes Vitamin D for all phases – Marik Nov 2020
- Fight COVID-19 without drugs or vaccines, Vitamin D is the single most-studied way – Nov 2020
- Hospital COVID-19 observation: 7X more likely to live if more than 20 ng of vitamin D– Nov 19, 2020
- Higher vitamin D associated with fewer cases and deaths in India Nov 2020
- COVID-19 defeated 3x faster by 420,000 IU Vitamin D nanoemulsion – RCT Nov 12, 2020
- 9X COVID-19 survival in nursing home if had 80,000 IU dose of vitamin D in previous month – Oct 2020
- Rate of COVID-19 test positive is 40 pcnt lower if high vitamin D (192,000 people) - Holick Sept 2020
Many clinical trials are testing Vitamin D to fight COVID-19