HYDERABAD: The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a threat to the whole of mankind, but it is the elderly who are at a higher risk. A recent study claims that older and darker-skinned people who are likely to have low levels of Vitamin D may benefit from taking supplements of the vitamin to protect themselves against the virus. However, city-based doctors say the intake of Vitamin-D supplements alone may not be a foolproof method of protecting oneself from the infection.
Vitamin D, which is made by the skin on being exposed to sunlight, plays an important role in maintaining calcium and phosphate balance, and is essential for bone growth. Low Vitamin D status is also associated with other non-communicable diseases.
Many researches claim that cytokine storm — an acute immune reaction — was found to be the common cause of death in Covid patients. Vitamin D also modulates the immune response of white blood cells by preventing them from releasing too many cytokines, which is what leads to the cytokine storm, says the study.
“Supplementation of V-D is inexpensive and the danger of side effects are low when taken orally. However, patients with kidney and liver diseases shouldn’t take supplements without prescription,” says Dr V Mohan, chairman and chief of diabetology at Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre.
Meanwhile, when Express spoke to a few city nutritionists, they claimed that even though Vitamin D is good for immunity, observational studies cannot be used unless there is clinical data. Dr Jyoti Chhabria, senior nutritionist, says, “Covid is a new virus. Until there is proper data, people should not take supplements.”