***Please Note, this is NOT medical advice. If you think you have an illness including COVID-19, please get tested and see your doctor for treatment. There are no specific antiviral treatments or vaccines currently available for COVID-19. People with COVID-19 should receive supportive care to help relieve symptoms. For severe symptoms, treatment should involve care to support vital organ functions. People who think they have been exposed to COVID-19 should contact their health provider immediately.
There are a lot of words and terms currently being thrown around the mainstream regarding Covid 19: masks, exposure, quarantine, vaccines, ventilators, ICU, to list a few. I’d like to propose a new one: Vitamin D.
The first randomized controlled trial of vitamin D (specifically 25-hydroxyvitamin D, aka calcifediol) in Covid-19 has just been published and the results are impressive. When used in very high doses on symptomatic study participants, vitamin D not only drastically reduced the odds of admission to the ICU, but also demonstrated the potential to nearly abolish the risk of death from the virus.
Those of us in the holistic medical community are not at all surprised. We’ve long preached the importance of maintaining optimal levels of this crucial vitamin. Among its many jobs, including promoting healthy bones and teeth, supporting brain, lung, and nervous system function, and regulating insulin levels, Vitamin D is crucial in supporting the body’s immune system response, both in the prevention of, and fight against, multiple illnesses. Covid-19, in particular, appears to respond very well to Vitamin D.
This trial on the effects of Vitamin D in Covid-19 patients was conducted in Spain, where the average blood level of vitamin D at this time of year is 16 ng/mL, well below recommended levels, which is likely the reason such a high dose was needed among patients. Levels were low among study participants for the same reason they are low among the general population: Most people live and work indoors, and slather on high-powered sunscreens (often full of chemicals, but that’s another topic) when they go outdoors.
In the U.S, research conducted during normal times revealed that more than 75 percent of adults and teens may have low levels of Vitamin D. After months of quarantine, if you have not been intentional about getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, levels are likely even lower. Heading into the winter months is sure to exacerbate the problem.
That’s why it’s so essential to know what your Vitamin D levels are. In fact, it might be the single most important thing to know in the effort to reduce your risk of contracting Covid-19.
The symptoms of a Vitamin D deficiency can be extremely subtle, especially in the beginning, so most people aren’t even aware they’re lacking in this very important vitamin. Symptoms of low levels include fatigue, low bone density, impaired wound healing, hair loss, depression, chronic pain not due to an injury or other condition, and frequent illness.
Infinity Wellness Center offers two kinds of testing for Vitamin D. One is strictly to determine your levels so we know if you have a deficiency. The other is genetic testing, which can reveal whether or not you have inherited a predisposition to low levels of Vitamin D due to an inability to convert or absorb it in certain forms. This one is particularly useful if you are already trying to improve Vitamin D levels through lifestyle, diet, and supplementation and still have a deficiency.
Whether your Vitamin D levels need to be addressed from a supplemental or cellular standpoint, we can do the testing that will help formulate a plan to optimize wellness during these times of elevated risk. Contact us to discuss the testing options that are best for you.
The study referenced in this article can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764?via%3Dihub