HOW WE CAN FIX THIS PANDEMIC IN A MONTH
(Revised edition)
Commentary by Damien Downing, MBBS, MRSB
(OMNS Oct 6, 2020) The Orthomolecular Medicine News Service has been publicizing the importance of vitamins D and C, and the minerals zinc and magnesium, in this pandemic since January [1]. I have been writing about vitamin D and sunlight for over 30 years [2], and it has never been more relevant.
If you caught the COVID19 virus right now, having a good vitamin D status (from already having taken a supplement) would greatly reduce your risk of contracting the infection, of the disease becoming severe, and of dying. Vitamin D enhances innate immunity while reducing the severity of inflammatory responses and supporting antioxidant activity [3]. Vitamin D deficiency correlates with risk of ARDS, sepsis and death from these [4]. You can even get some protection from living somewhere sunny [5] – or better still somewhere where people generally have good vitamin D status, probably from dietary sources [6].
For countries in Europe, the probability of developing COVID-19, and of dying from it, is negatively correlated with mean population vitamin D status, with both probabilities reaching zero above about 75nmol/L, as clearly shown here [7]. The chart is redrawn from the original data, and also shows, at the top, the significantly lower vitamin D levels for the elderly in Spain and Italy.
Go to the source here.
