Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have urged the Irish government to change recommendations for vitamin D supplements, as a matter of urgency, and to encourage all adults to take supplements during the pandemic of the emerging Corona virus "Covid 19".
There was evidence of a relationship between vitamin D levels and deaths from Covid 19, according to Dr. Eamon Leard and researcher Rose Ann Kenny, who lead the Irish study on aging.
The two researchers analyzed studies of the adult population in Europe, which had been completed since 1999, and which measured vitamin "D", and compared the vitamin ratio with death rates from "Covid 19".
The study, published in the Irish Medical Journal, concluded that the pivotal role of vitamin "D" in fighting viral infections is known, but the vitamin can also support the immune system through a number of immune pathways involved in fighting the coronavirus.
The relationship is very strong, Kenny said, so it is advisable to take the vitamin immediately. This is because vitamin D deficiency was common among those at risk of developing Covid 19, especially the elderly; there was no toxic risk of taking it, at the recommended dose level, with evidence of benefits increasing.
In addition, scientists found at Northwestern University, in the United States, last week, that those who suffer from severe vitamin "D" deficiency are twice as likely to have complications from "corona".