Pointers at Glance
- As per the new clinical trials, vitamin D won’t prevent infection from coronavirus or respiratory infections.
- The two studies done were revealed by The British Medical Journal on Wednesday.
According to two new, large clinical trials, VD supplements are not likely to prevent an infection from Covid-19 or respiratory infections such as colds or flu, even if current levels of the vitamin are low.
One study done during the height of the pandemic in the United Kingdom gave 3,100 people with insufficient vitamin D levels a low or a high dose of the vitamin to check if the supplement would prevent a coronavirus or respiratory infection.
The study author and a professor of respiratory infection and immunity at the Institute of Population Health Sciences at the Queen Mary University of London, Dr. Adrian Martineau, said through email that Vitamin D supplementation at either dose did not result in a reduced risk of all-cause acute respiratory infections (ARI), or risk or severity of COVID-19 specifically.
Also, a second double-blinded, randomized clinical trial, done during the pandemic, gave over 34,000 Norwegians cod liver oil or a placebo to test the impact of vitamin D on Covid and respiratory disease prevention. Cod liver oil naturally contains low doses of vitamin D and vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids.
The British Medical Journal released both studies on Wednesday. Dr. Arne Søraas, a researcher in the microbiology department at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, said in an email that the major takeaway is that for general people, a vitamin D supplement did not protect from COVID-19, or symptomatic acute respiratory tract infections.
In just one month, researchers found protective effects from the vitamin. Martineau said that two more clinical trials in the United States and Canada would add more data.
