Vitamin D May Help Treat COVID-19, New Research Shows

By Madelaine D. First Posted: Oct 09, 2020 04:54 AM EDT

New research shows that vitamin D might help treat COVID-19 by reducing the severity of the infection.

According to a small study published in the October issue of The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, there is new evidence showing that a dose of vitamin D could improve treatment outcomes of patients with COVID-19 infection.

For this research, 76 patients admitted to Reina Sofia University Hospital for COVID-19 have been studied by researchers from the University of Córdoba, Spain, the Insider reported.

All patients were provided with the best treatment available, but 50 patients were randomly assigned to get calcifediol. Calcifediol is a form of vitamin D3 that can immediately increase patients' vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D May Help Treat COVID-19, New Research Shows

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Genetics Lab Processes Coronavirus Tests In Maryland ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND - AUGUST 05: Lab Technician Carter Tavaglione prepares a solution that will be used to process coronavirus test samples at Advagenix, a molecular diagnostics laboratory, on August 05, 2020 in Rockville, Maryland. An advanced genetics testing company, Advagenix has a contract with Montgomery County, Maryland, to test about 1 million people for COVID-19 over the next year. The company is expanding by moving into additional lab space and doubling the size of its workforce to around 30 people to handle the increased work.

The study showed that patients who took calcifediol were less likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit, and more importantly, none of them died.

Out of the remaining 26 patients that did not receive the supplement, two patients died, and 13 were admitted to the intensive care unit.

The result suggests that calcifediol could decrease the severity of COVID-19 infection and lower the risk of complications.

"Calcifediol seems to be able to reduce the severity of the disease, but larger trials with groups properly matched will be required to show a definitive answer," the researchers said.

However, one limitation of the study is that while patients were randomly assigned to receive vitamin D, more patients in the control group had diabetes and high blood pressure.

Both conditions are risk factors for severe COVID-19 complications. That could be the reason why that group had poor outcomes. Before the treatment, researchers also did not assess if the patients were deficient in vitamin D.

It is unclear whether other forms of vitamin D supplementation have the same effect with calcifediol for potentially staving off severe COVID-19.

Calcifediol is more potent and more easily absorbed than other vitamin D forms, making it more effective in patients with digestive distress or other illnesses.

Other research showed that it's common for adults to lack vitamin D in early spring due to a lack of sunlight access. Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency linked to risk of contracting COVID-19

As per the Insider, the study is the first of its kind to suggest that supplementation of vitamin D could cause less severe COVID-19. Several studies previously revealed that having enough vitamin D could help fight COVID-19 infection.

Latin Post earlier reported that another study also showed that vitamin D deficiency correlates with the risk of contracting COVID-19.

The research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the lack of vitamin D increases the risk of contracting COVID-19. But researchers believed that further research is needed.