Corona virus: What is the truth about the relationship between vitamin “D” and Covid 19?

The problem, however, is that shoddy or early-stage internet research can be published and shared with others, and the resulting confusion is exploited by those promoting conspiracy theories.

There are some justifications as to why vitamin D may be useful in the treatment or prevention of Covid 19 disease. It plays a role in strengthening the immune system. This is because all UK residents are recommended to take this nutritional supplement in winter, and people with vitamin D deficiency are advised to take it throughout the year.

To date, no research has shown a satisfactory effect at a level sufficient to withstand high doses to prevent or treat the disease – and that doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future.

So it was understandable that so many people exchanged advice online to follow it, but some went much further than that. Some forums on the social networking site Reddit have indicated that governments “rarely mention” the effectiveness of vitamin D and instead focus on “vaccinations and state police plans to track down people linked to those infected. Or claim they were ignored. The vitamin because the World Health Organization is “on the list of those who pay the big pharmaceutical companies”.

In fact, governments have adopted other cheap and effective treatments such as dexamethasone, once they have been shown to be effective, and the vitamins themselves are a huge industry that generates millions of dollars.

Several studies have shown a relationship between vitamin D and Covid in the overall score, but the evidence has remained largely observational, meaning it looks at what happens to people who have lower and lower vitamin D levels. without controlling them. Other factors.

This is not a reference guide, and it has yet to be tried on a randomized control sample, where a treatment is given to one group versus a placebo for another group of people, so that scientists can clearly know. that the changes are caused by the treatment itself and not by other factors.

Observational studies show that certain groups are more susceptible to vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19, such as the elderly, obese, and dark-skinned (including blacks and South Asians).

Deficiency of this vitamin may be the reason these groups are more vulnerable, or there may be other health and environmental factors that lead to lower levels of vitamin “D” and increased exposure to the virus.

The British National Health Service advises people with dark skin (such as those of African, Caribbean or South Asian descent) to consider taking vitamin D supplements “all year round”.

Vitamin levels can also decrease due to the disease itself, rather than being the cause.

We will be able to identify vitamin deficiency as a contributing factor to the disease by conducting random sample experiments and the conditions of these experiments are properly controlled, such as those currently underway at Queen Mary University in London.

And a special article from the University of Barcelona claiming to do this kind of study drew attention.

The study indicates that the use of vitamin “D” has had incredible success, reducing the number of cases of illness requiring intensive care by 80% and the death rate by 60%.

The results of this study were widely disseminated via the Internet, but were subsequently withdrawn due to “concerns about the description of the research”, and “Lancet” magazine is currently considering publication of the article.

However, the news of the withdrawal from the study was not reported to the same extent as how the original first study was disseminated.

In the experiment on which the study was based, vitamin “D” was administered to all patients in all hospital wards which generally involve patients, depending on the severity of their disease, and it was not administered. not randomly administered to individuals. the disease included in the study had different levels, entirely off the vitamin at first, indicating that they were sicker in the first place.

Conservative Representative David Davis, who called on Parliament to introduce vitamin D supplements to hospitals, told the BBC that although the study was withdrawn, he believed it still showed vitamin D was an important factor and urged the government to fund more research. So.

Aurora Paluja, anesthesiologist and intensive care doctor in Spain who reviewed the Barcelona study for the Lancet before it was withdrawn, said: “The kind of ‘severe’ effect the study found didn’t work at all. been found in the experiment conducted on a random sample under controlled conditions, making It is very likely that their results are due to bias. “

She added: “Although vitamin D deficiency is a ‘well-established risk factor’ in people who have died in intensive care, relying solely on vitamin D supplementation has always been an unsuccessful way to reduce the risks for these people. patients.

A deficiency is often the result of another, more entrenched factor, such as malnutrition or kidney failure, rather than death from vitamin deficiency, Paluja explains.

When the results match the opinions of people around the world, for example saying that “natural things cannot harm you”, it increases the likelihood that they will be disseminated among people, as Professor Sander van der explains. Linden; Social psychologist, University of Cambridge, UK.

While the worlds of natural health and alternative medicine online and the worlds of anti-vaccination people are different for ideological reasons, they can overlap.

Professor Van der Linden says the anti-vaccination comments and statements are “closely related to other topics and factors such as religion, herbal medicine, alternative medicine and companies that advocate the adoption of natural materials only.”

He explains that this means that they can discuss topics that intersect the interests of people in those communities and post a message on their pages and websites, such as “You don’t need a vaccine and you can’t take a vaccine. as vitamin D “without explicitly stating that it implicitly calls for anti-vaccination.

Overall, vitamin D is considered relatively safe (although high doses can lead to kidney stones), so it may not appear to be the most harmful when it comes to the spread of misinformation.

The danger, says Professor van der Linden, is when people say this supplement is a silver bullet and should be used in place of vaccines, masks and social distancing measures.