Over 80 Per Cent of COVID-19 Patients Have Vitamin D Deficiency, Study Finds
[Photo: Freepik]
Over 80 per cent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body. Many studies point to the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially regarding protection against infections.
Read Also: Hologic Champions Early Detection of Breast Cancer Through Proactive Screening
[the_ad id=”10542″]
“One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19,” said study co-author José L. Hernández, Ph.D., of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. “Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system.”
The researchers found 80 percent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer.
CITATION
The Endocrine Society. “Over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency, study finds: Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in men.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 October 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201027092216.htm>.
[the_ad id=”10542″]
