COVID-19: 3 Physician Assistant Students Urge Public To Take In More Vitamin D

As Coronavirus infection has been described as a respiratory disorder presenting with symptoms of sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, fever, cough, and shortness of breath, three physician assistant students from Presbyterian University College Agogo have said that taking in a lot of vitamin D products could reduce one’s chance of contracting the COVID-19.

Vitamin D is said to have a tremendous impact on respiratory health through its effects on lung development and structure, respiratory muscle strength, inflammation and immune response to respiratory pathogens. Since the causative agent for this Coronavirus infection is a respiratory pathogen and presents with systems suggestive of a respiratory anomaly, taking vitamin D products such as orange juice, soy milk, cereals, fatty fish like tuna, mackerel and salmon, beef liver and egg yolks will increase one’s immune ability to resist the C0VID 19 infectious disease.

Another important source of vitamin D is sunlight. Its ultraviolet B(UVB) energy converts the precursor to vitamin D3. In contrast, most dietary supplements are manufactured by exposing a plant sterol to ultraviolet energy, thus producing vitamin D2. Because their functions are identical, D2 and D3 are lumped together under the name vitamin D-but neither will function until the sun’s energy turns a chemical in your skin into vitamin D3, which is carried to your liver and then your kidney to form it to active vitamin D. Professor Zahid Naeem in his research Vitamin D Deficiency –An Ignored Epidemic said,’’ exposure to sunlight each day helps human body to manufacture the required amount of vitamin D. However, due to the fear of developing skin cancer most people avoid the sunlight exposure. To prevent vitamin D deficiency, one should spend 15 to 20 minutes daily in the sunshine with 40% of the skin surface exposed. High melanin in the skin slows the production of vitamin D; similarly aging greatly reduces skin production of vitamin D

Professor Lanham-New in his work published on November 2019 explained:’’ there is a real need to promote more awareness of vitamin D deficiency across the younger population within the UK. It is established that vitamin D is beneficial for bone health and our studies demonstrate the importance of vitamin D for athletic performance within UK university students and said more attention should be placed on the role of vitamin D in the body system.’’

Dr. Murennan in a research work on the role of vitamin D in respiratory health published on January 25, 2018, has said that ’there is emerging evidence that vitamin D level either through lifestyle or supplementation can reduce asthma symptoms and severity among individuals with inadequate levels.

Vitamin D supplementation helps boost your immune system by stimulating naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides, which protect the body by destroying invading microbes. The antimicrobial peptides live in immune cells throughout the body including cells lining the upper and lower respiratory tract. They are directly able to fight off viruses and bacteria that cause common immune and respiratory infections like colds and flu.

Kids born to moms who were deficient in vitamin D are more likely to develop asthma and other breathing disorders, says Dr. Holick, the author of The Vitamin D Solution: A3-Step Strategy to Cure Most Common Health Problem.’’ We know that adequate levels of vitamin D help build an effective immune system and that the mother’s immunity carries over to her child during pregnancy and beyond.’’

Other importance of vitamin D includes regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and facilitating normal immune function. Getting a sufficient amount of vitamin D is important for normal growth and development of bones and teeth, as well as improved resistance against certain diseases like cancers and examples, which are colorectal and prostate cancers.

If your body is deprived of this essential vitamin, you are at risk of developing bone abnormalities such as soft bones (osteomalacia)or fragile bones (osteoporosis) Low level of vitamin D has been associated with worsening autoimmune diseases. According to a report written by Adda Bjarnadottir, (MS, RDN) on June 4, 2017, "how much vitamin D you need depends on many factors. These include age, race, latitude, season, sun exposure, clothing and more. All things considered, a daily vitamin D intake of 1000–4000 IU, or 25–100 micrograms, should be enough to ensure optimal blood levels in most people.

4000 IU is the safe upper limit according to the US Institute of Medicine (IOM). Make sure not to take more than that without consulting with a health professional".

Recommendations from the US Institute of Medicine suggest that an average daily intake of 400-800 IU or 10-20 micrograms is adequate for 97.5% of individuals.

With these respiratory protective mechanisms of Vitamin D, the team believes that enough intake of vitamin D supplementation could boost one’s ability against infectious diseases such as the COVID-19. We hope that this will go a long way to help Ghanaians as we battle against this COVID-19.

GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA AND MAKE OUR NATION GREAT AND STRONG.

written by;

Michael Sarfo

( PA 300)

ALBERT Bogkur

(PA 200)

Thomas Doe Kudozia

(PA 200)

Supervised by DR. RICHARD K NYAMEKYE

(PHYSICIAN SPECIALIST)