Vitamin D supplementation when administered too late may not help covid 19 patients 太晚補充維生素D可能無法幫助covid 19名患者

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Friday 04/23/2021 (jkzx.com) — Reported on February 17, 2021 in the medical journal JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), a small trial suggests that supplementation with a high dose of 25-hydroxyvitamin D does not significantly help covid 19 patients with moderate to severe symptoms. And authors of the study do not recommend vitamin D as a therapeutic to treat patients with moderate to severe covid 19 conditions.

The study of 240 covid 19 patients led by Igor H. Murai from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil and colleagues shows patients receiving 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 when admitted to the authors’ hospital remained hospitalized for the same length of time as those who were given a placebo. The median length of hospitalization for both groups was seven days.

(Editor’s note: A better way to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation on the relieving of covid 19 symptoms in patients with moderate to severe symptoms may be counting the TOTAL days of stay instead of median value.)

The researchers also reported some interesting observations including:

1) The rate of mortality due to covid 19 and other health conditions is slightly higher in the vitamin D supplemented group, 7.6% vs 5.1%. But the difference is statistically insignificant. Note that many patients in both groups had underlying health conditions.

2) The rate of receiving intensive care in the vitamin D supplementation group is lower, 16% vs 21% but not significant.

3) The rate of needing mechanical ventilation in the vitamin D group was much lower, 7.6% vs 14.4%. This is statistically fairly significant.

The authors acknowledged a few limitations.

1) Although vitamin D supplementation was not significantly linked to the improvement of covid 19 symptoms, some improvement of certain symptoms may be clinically meaningful, and these benefits may become evident when the study cohort size increases.

2) Many patients had other health conditions which can complicate the trial results. As a result, it is difficult to sort out how much effect vitamin D supplementation can have on the outcomes of covid 19 infection.

3) Compared to other study populations reported previously, this trial cohort has fewer patients suffering vitamin D deficiency. If a patient has adequate amount of vitamin in their blood already, the impact of vitamin D supplement will not be insignificant.

4) It seems to be too late to give vitamin D to patients. The average time between the onset of symptoms or the first symptoms, and vitamin D administration was 10.3 days. Some doctors (not authors of the study) suggest that antiviral supplements should be taken as preventatives before getting infected with covid 19. Or take supplements immediately when the first symptoms manifest.

It is undisputable that high serum vitamin D concentrations can help reduce the risk of getting covid 19 infection, according to other studies. If infected, the patient should take vitamin D once they feel they might have been infected with something. This can help reduce risk of developing severe symptoms or life-threatening complications. It is irrational to take vitamin D supplements only after severe covid 1 symptoms manifest..

Vitamin D is known to play a role in the human innate immunity against bacterial and viral infection. Studies published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature has proved the physiological function of vitamin D.

The current study shows that supplementation with one shot of 200,000 IU is safe. This magnitude of dose is considered a prescription medication and patients can only receive one from a physician. But anyone who want vitamin D supplements can buy from anywhere vitamin pills with 4000 or 5000 IU each. (Dr Lu)

太晚補充維生素D可能無法幫助 covid 19名患者

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