According to the first semi-experimental study of its kind, elderly patients already taking Vitamin D supplements are more likely to survive COVID-19. A single dose of 80,000IU of Vitamin D3 after already getting COVID-19 is most likely too late and too low a dosage to see the same protective effects seen with daily supplementation.
77 patients participated in the GERIA-COVID study. The participants ranged in age from between 79 and 100 years of age. The participants were hospitalized in France in March – May 2020. The patients whom had been taking Vitamin D supplements over the preceding year were included in Group 1. No patient in Group 1 received any additional supplements after having been diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients who had not been supplementing with Vitamin D but who were given an oral supplement of 80,000 IU of Vitamin D within a few hours of being diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in Group 2. Group 3 included patients who had not received any Vitamin D supplements. The absence of Vitamin D treatments in Group 3 was mostly likely due to the patients’ refusal to supplement since in France Vitamin D supplementation is recommended for all patients over 65 years of age.
17 patients were diagnosed with severe COVID-19, 62 patients survived to day 14, and 15 patients died. Regular Vitamin D supplementation was associated with less severe COVID-19 symptoms and improved survival rates. However, Group 2 patients (those that had received 80,000 IU of Vitamin D after their COVID-19 diagnosis) did not see improved COVID-19 outcomes.
Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a steroid pre-hormone. It is produced in the skin when strong sunlight is present and is then converted by the liver and kidneys into an active hormone. Vitamin D aids in supporting healthy bone, but also supports important functions in organs like the brain, muscle and the immune system.
A growing number of studies have linked Vitamin D deficiency with increasingly severe COVID-19 symptoms. In European countries, an inverse association was found between serum Vitamin D levels and the number of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 mortality.
The major take away from this study is that it is regular daily Vitamin D supplementation that offers the best COVID-19 outcomes and survival.
Further studies are underway.
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