A preliminary, unpublished study speculates that vitamin D deficiency may have something to do with poor COVID-19 outcomes. Its authors suggest people may benefit from ensuring they are getting enough vitamin D. However, there are serious concerns about the research.
Vitamin D is one of the nutrients that are crucial to human health, on the whole.
The human body naturally synthesizes this vitamin — in fact, a group of substances — through adequate exposure to sunlight.
Only a few foods, such as egg yolks, can be a source of vitamin D, which means that people who have little access to sunlight may experience vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency.
To prevent or address a lack of vitamin D, people can take vitamin D supplements under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
Inadequate levels of vitamin D can cause problems in the bones, as well as issues such as hair loss and joint pain.
Now, three researchers from the United Kingdom have put forward another idea: Could science link insufficient vitamin D with COVID-19 and, more specifically, COVID-19 deaths?
Dr. Petre Cristian Ilie, from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust in King’s Lynn, Dr. Simina Ștefănescu, from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and Lee Smith, Ph.D., from Anglia Ruskin University in East Anglia present their preliminary study online in preprint form.
In their study, the researchers first identified the mean levels of vitamin D for the inhabitants of 20 European countries.
They then looked at whether they could find any associations between these and data around the number of COVID-19 cases in each country, as well as the number of COVID-19 deaths.
The research team reports that, according to their observations, “the mean level of vitamin D in each country was strongly associated” both with a higher number of COVID-19 cases and with higher mortality due to the disease.
The investigators claim that countries such as Spain and Italy, which have among the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in Europe, demonstrate low mean levels of vitamin D in blood in their populations.
Based on this association, the researchers hypothesize that vitamin D may help protect against contracting SARS-CoV-2 or experiencing seve