UK Scientists Provides More Proof That Vitamin D Protects Against Severe COVID-19 Disease And Death While Questionable Canadian ‘Researchers’ Say Otherwise!

UK Scientists Provides More Proof That Vitamin D Protects Against Severe COVID-19 Disease And Death While Questionable Canadian ‘Researchers’ Say Otherwise!

 
Vitamin D and COVID-19: A new study by researchers from Trinity College Dublin and University of Edinburgh has examined the association between vitamin D and COVID-19, and found that ambient ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (which is key for vitamin D production in the skin) at an individual’s place of residence in the weeks before COVID-19 infection, was strongly protective against severe disease and death.
 
To date a growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial respiratory infections.
 
Thailand Medical News was one of the first to highlight the merits of Vitamin supplementation to help treat COVID-19 as early as April 2020. https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-irish-study-indicates-that-maybe-vitamin-d-could-help-in-addition-to-other-therapeutics-to-fight-off-covid-19
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-new-study-shows-vitamin-d-could-be-linked-to-covid-19-mortality-and-infection-rates
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/supplements-singaporean-researchers-say-that-vitamin-d,-magnesium-and-vitamin-b12-combo-may-reduce-severity-in-older-covid-19-patients
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/cytokine-storms-study-reveals-sars-cov-2-initially-attacks-the-genetic-target-ahr-and-how-modulation-could-be-achieved-by-dexamethasone,-vitamin-d-or-
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-vitamin-d-could-help-in-a-supporting-role-to-treat-covid-19-confirms-new-research-involving-10-international-medical-institutions
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-israeli-study-confirms-that-vitamin-d-critical-in-covid-19-as-low-plasma-level-of-it-is-a-risk-factor-for-sars-cov-2-infection
 
es-using-vitamin-d-as-a-prophylaxis">https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-yet-another-research-in-lancet-advocating-vitamin-d-for-covid-19-while-another-study-proposes-using-vitamin-d-as-a-prophylaxis
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-patients-with-adequate-levels-of-vitamin-d-have-less-complications-and-lower-mortality-according-to-iranian-study--canadian-study-says-otherw
 
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-supplements-study-shows-that-more-than-82-percent-of-hospitalized-covid-19-patients-have-vitamin-d-deficiency
 
To date there are more than 117 different studies including numerous clinical trials showing the efficacy of Vitamin D in helping to treat certain aspects of the COVID-19 disease and also preventing disease severity and mortality.
 
However there has been one Canadian University, whose seemingly questionable researchers (I have finally had enough of this University and its questionable researchers, hence resorting to such an undignified manner of name calling!) who claimed that Vitamin D supplements does nothing to help COVID-19. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003605
 
It should be noted that various so called ‘researchers’ from this non-credible University will only engage so called studies that will always  say that any supplements, herbal products or phytochemicals or even repurposed drugs have no efficacy to treat COVId-19. To them it is only the vaccines and overpriced American approved drugs that are the only grail to treating COVID-19. We are not sure who could be financing all the questionable faked research at this non-credible university! Its little wonder that the city of Quebec was, is and will be constantly badly hit by the COVID-19 surges!
 
Take for instance: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-health/ginkgo-has-not-been-shown-treat-covid-19
While other studies are showing differently: https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/american-study-shows-that-the-phytochemical-ginkgolic-acid-from-gingko-biloba-shows-promising-prospects-as-an-antiviral-for-sars-cov-2
 
There are so many other such studies emerging from that questionable Canadian University.
 
In the new UK study, the study team aimed to examine the association between vitamin D and COVID-19 risk and outcomes.
 
The team used logistic regression to identify associations between vitamin D variables and COVID-19 (risk of infection, hospitalization and death) in 417,342 participants from UK Biobank.
 
They subsequently performed a Mendelian Randomization (MR) study to look for evidence of a causal effect. In total, 1746 COVID-19 cases (399 deaths) were registered between March and June 2020.
 
The Vitamin D-COVID-19 study team found no significant associations between COVID-19 infection risk and measured 25-OHD levels after adjusted for covariates, but this finding is limited by the fact that the vitamin D levels were measured on average 11 years before the pandemic.
 
However ambient UVB was strongly and inversely associated with COVID-19 hospitalization and death overall and consistently after stratification by BMI and ethnicity.
 
The team also observed an interaction that suggested greater protective effect of genetically-predicted vitamin D levels when ambient UVB radiation is stronger. The main MR analysis did not show that genetically-predicted vitamin D levels are causally associated with COVID-19 risk (OR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.55–1.11, P = 0.160), but MR sensitivity analyses indicated a potential causal effect (weighted mode MR: OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.55–0.95, P = 0.021; weighted median MR: OR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.42–0.92, P = 0.016). Analysis of MR-PRESSO did not find outliers for any instrumental variables and suggested a potential causal effect (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.66–0.98, p-val = 0.030).
 
In conclusion, the study showed that effect of low vitamin D levels did increase the risk or severity of COVID-19 and mortality.
 
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97679-5
 
Numerous past studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with an increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial respiratory infections. Similarly, several observational studies found a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19, but it could be that these effects are confounded and in fact a result of other factors, such as obesity, older age, or chronic illness which are also linked with low vitamin D.
 
In order to overcome this, the study team was able to calculate “genetically-predicted” vitamin D level that is not confounded by other demographic, health, and lifestyle factors, by using the information from over one hundred genes that determine vitamin D status.
 
Importantly the Mendelian Randomization is a particular analytical approach that enabled researchers to investigate whether vitamin D and COVID-19 might be causally linked using genetic data.
 
A few earlier studies attempted this but failed to show a causal link. This could be because UVB radiation sunshine which is the most important source of vitamin D for majority of people was ignored.
 
The study team for the first time, looked jointly at genetically-predicted and UVB-predicted vitamin D level. Almost half a million individuals in the UK took part in the study, and ambient UVB radiation before COVID-19 infection was individually assessed for each participant. When comparing the two variables, the team found that correlation with measured vitamin D concentration in the circulation was three-fold stronger for UVB-predicted vitamin D level, compared to genetically-predicted.
 
The study team found that ambient UVB radiation at an individual’s place of residence preceding COVID-19 infection was strongly and inversely associated with hospitalization and death.
 
This suggests that vitamin D may protect against severe COVID-19 disease and death. Additionally, while the results from the Mendelian Randomisation analysis weren’t conclusive, some indication of a potential causal effect was noted.
 
As a result of a relatively weak link between genetically-predicted vitamin D level that is used for Mendelian Randomization analysis, it is possible that the number of cases in the current study was too small to convincingly determine causal effect, but future larger studies might provide the answer.
 
Senior researcher, Associate Professor in Epidemiology Dr Lina Zgaga from the School of Medicine, Trinity College told Thailand Medial News, “Our study adds further evidence that vitamin D might protect against severe COVID-19 infection. Conducting a properly designed COVID-19 randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation is critical. Until then, given that vitamin D supplements are safe and cheap, it is definitely advisable to take supplements and protect against vitamin D deficiency, particularly with winter on the horizon.”
 
Senior researcher, Professor Evropi Theodoratou, a professor of Cancer Epidemiology and Global Health at the University of Edinburgh further added, “Given the lack of highly effective therapies against COVID-19, we think it is important to remain open-minded to emerging results from rigorously conducted studies of vitamin D.”
 
A researcher on the study from Zhejiang University-China Dr Xue Li added,
“Our study supports the recommendation of vitamin D supplementation for not only the maintenance of bone and muscle health during the lock down, but also the potential benefits in relation to protection from COVID-19.”
 
For more on Vitamin D and COVID-19, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News