Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body.
“One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19,” said study co-author José L.
“Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system.”.
The researchers found 80 percent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women.
COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer.
Reference “Vitamin D Status in Hospitalized Patients With SARS-Cov-2 Infection” 27 October 2020, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Ruiz-Cubillán of the Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL in Santander, Spain; Pedro Muñoz Cacho of the Servicio Cántabro de Salud in Santander, Spain;.
October 24, 2020
October 24, 2020
October 23, 2020
October 23, 2020