Terrifying graph shows how Covid-19 patients with low vitamin D levels ‘almost certainly die if they end up in hospital’
HEALTH chiefs have launched an urgent review into the potential benefits of Vitamin D to coronavirus patients.
Studies have previously suggested that a deficiency of the vitamin makes a person more likely to die after contracting the virus.
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The UK's relatively low levels of sunshine and Brits' diets mean vitamin D deficiency is a widespread problem in the country.
An estimated one in five adults and one in six children don't get enough vitamin D - a problem that its feared could be being exacerbated by the lockdown.
One study by Anglia Ruskin University found that European countries in which vitamin D deficiency is prevalent have seen elevated death tolls since the start of the pandemic.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, part of the Department of Health, has now announced a "rapid evidence review" looking at the trend, the reported.
The results of the review are set to be published in the coming weeks.
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, which advises Public Health England and other government organisations on nutrition, will also complete a report.
Heightened vulnerability caused by a lack of vitamin D could be part of the reason that both the elderly and certain ethnic minority groups have seen higher fatality rates from the virus.
Melanin, the pigment that makes a person's skin darker, lowers the skin's ability to produce vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure.
The body's ability to produce the vitamin also diminishes as a person gets older.
In April, Public Health England advised Brits to begin taking vitamin D supplements to help maintain bone and muscle health during the lockdown.
Earlier this month, the Scottish government also recommended that anyone from an ethnic group with darker skin should begin taking the supplement.
Officials are said to be discussing whether the supplement could be prescribed in hospitals to help mitigate the impact of any second wave.
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Professor Adrian Martineau of Queen Mary University, currently leading a study into the vulnerability to coronavirus of people with different lifestyles, told the that the benefits of vitamin D could be considerable.
"Vitamin D could almost be thought of as a designer drug for helping the body to handle viral respiratory infections," he said.
The review into the effects of the vitamin comes after cheap steroid drug Dexamethasone was found to slash the risk of dying from coronavirus.
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