FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2020 (HealthDay Information) — There’s proof that low blood ranges of the “sunshine vitamin” — vitamin D — could enhance an individual’s danger of an infection with the new coronavirus, researchers say.

“Vitamin D is essential to the perform of the immune system and vitamin D supplements have beforehand been proven to decrease the danger of viral respiratory tract infections,” stated research lead creator Dr. David Meltzer. He is chief of hospital medication on the College of Chicago Drugs.

For the brand new research, Meltzer’s group tracked coronavirus infections amongst 489 sufferers whose vitamin D ranges have been measured inside a 12 months earlier than they have been examined for the brand new coronavirus.

Whereas the research could not decide trigger and impact, sufferers with an untreated vitamin D deficiency (blood ranges of lower than 20 ng/mL) have been practically two instances extra more likely to check constructive for the coronavirus than sufferers with enough vitamin D ranges, the researchers stated.

“Our statistical evaluation suggests this can be true for the COVID-19 an infection,” Meltzer stated in a medical heart information launch.

Half of Individuals are poor in vitamin D, with a lot larger charges amongst Black and Hispanic Individuals and individuals who reside in areas like Chicago, the place it is tough to get sufficient solar publicity in winter.

The physique produces vitamin D when pores and skin is straight uncovered to the solar.

“Understanding whether or not treating vitamin D deficiency adjustments COVID-19 danger might be of nice significance regionally, nationally and globally,” Meltzer stated. “Vitamin D is cheap, usually very secure to take, and may be extensively scaled,” he famous.

Additional analysis is required to find out whether or not vitamin D dietary supplements may scale back the danger of an infection with the brand new coronavirus and even the severity of COVID-19, the research authors stated.

Dr. Len Horovitz is a pulmonologist and internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York Metropolis. Studying over the brand new findings, he stated that analysis has “instructed that [vitamin] D performs a necessary function within the immune system. This present research underscores this: D seems to cut back the danger of being contaminated with COVID, and different research have instructed that sufferers with D deficiency fare worse with COVID.”

Horovitz instructed that the pandemic may even be elevating ranges of vitamin D deficiency.

“Due to metropolis dwelling and particularly with ‘lockdowns,’ there was much less solar publicity and subsequently extra discovering of D deficiency in my observe,” he famous.

Fortunately, a simple treatment is at hand, since vitamin D dietary supplements can be found. “The right dose is dependent upon affected person measurement and their daylight publicity, and may be simply measured with a easy blood check,” Horovitz stated.

Meltzer’s group believes there is a want for research to determine methods for vitamin D supplementation that could be simplest in particular teams of individuals. The Chicago researchers stated they’ve already launched a number of such clinical trials.

The research was revealed on-line Sept. 3 in JAMA Community Open.