Vitamin D in the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – a clinical review from a public health and public mental health perspective
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, https://doi.org/10.1177/20451253211027699
Ursula Werneke, Fiona Gaughran, David M. Taylor
% of population <10ng or < 20ng from three studies
Females are highlighted in yellow
References (2014, 2017, 2019)
- 37. Palacios C and Gonzalez L. Is vitamin D deficiency a major global public health problem? J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2014; 144 Pt A: 138–145. See VitaminDWiki Vitamin D deficiency is a major global public health problem – Maps Nov 2013
- 38. Lips P, Cashman KD, Lamberg-Allardt C, et al. Current vitamin D status in European and Middle East countries and strategies to prevent vitamin D deficiency: a position statement of the European Calcified Tissue Society. Eur J Endocrinol 2019; 180: 23–54.
- 39. van Schoor N and Lips P. Global overview of vitamin D status. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 2017; 46: 845–870
Note: Many Vitamin D studies are made in the cities (higher air pollution & less noon-time sun),
both of which result in lower levels of vitamin D than in rural areas
But, hospitals tend to have fewer % of low-income patients - who often have dark skins
- Vitamin D levels from lowest to highest: Middle East, China. India, S EU. N EU – Dec 2019
- Low Vitamin D in Southern Europe – 1 in 3 had less than 20 ng (630,000 Europeans) Sept 2018
- Vast majority of Europeans have less than 30 ng of Vitamin D – Aug 2016 has a table
Deficiency of Vitamin D category starts with the following
- Overview Deficiency of vitamin D
- Many reasons why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic
- 23 of the 40 reasons are recent
- Many doctors continue to believe 2,000 IU of vitamin D is max (Hungary in this case)– Dec 2021
- 73 percent of US infants still do not even get 400 IU of Vitamin D - June 2020
- Vitamin D levels are dropping rapidly – what you need to do
- 4 Reasons why Vitamin D levels are crashing
- Update Reasons for Low Vitamin D and what to do with a concise table
- Air Pollution reduces Vitamin D production - many studies
- Vitamin D levels in 56 countries (many have less than 20 ng) – 2021
- Trends in vitamin D status around the world – Nov 2021
- Vitamin deficiency in US military – Vitamin D is the most prevalent and is growing rapidly – June 2021
- Smoking reduces vitamin D - many studies 77 studies as of Feb 2024
- Low Vitamin D is worse for your health than smoking
- Many categories of people are at High Risk of low vitamin D -
67 studies - 26 health factors increase the risk of COVID-19 – all are proxies for low vitamin D
- Diseases arising from depletion are cured by repletion - Hippocrates 400 BC
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Individuals with serious mental disorders (SMD) may have a higher risk of vitamin D (VIT-D) deficiency. They also experience higher mortality because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Therefore, we have conducted a comprehensive review to examine the significance of VIT-D for public health and public mental health during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
This review had three specific aims, from a global perspective to
- (a) create a profile of VIT-D and review the epidemiology of VIT-D deficiency,
- (b) explore VIT-D deficiency as risk factor for SMD and COVID-19 infections and
- (c) examine the effectiveness of VIT-D supplementation for both conditions.
We found that, in terms of SMD, the evidence from laboratory and observational studies points towards some association between VIT-D deficiency and depression or schizophrenia. Mendelian randomisation studies, however, suggest no, or reverse, causality. The evidence from intervention studies is conflicting.
Concerning COVID-19 infection, on proof of principle, VIT-D could provide a plausible defence against the infection itself and against an adverse clinical course. But data from observational studies and the first preliminary intervention studies remain conflicting, with stronger evidence that VIT-D may mitigate the clinical course of COVID-19 infection rather than the risk of infection in the first place. From a public health and public mental health point of view, based on the currently limited knowledge, for individuals with SMD, the benefits of VIT-D optimisation through supplementation seem to outweigh the risks. VIT-D supplementation, however, should not substitute for vaccination or medical care for COVID-19 infection.
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