Vitamin D may help defend against virus
Brigham and Women’s to test effectiveness
Vitamin D is known to boost the immune system by fighting off infection, and now a Brigham and Women’s Hospital study will test to see if the sunshine vitamin can lessen the severity of coronavirus symptoms and reduce the chance of becoming infected with the illness.
“Vitamin D supplementation is a promising approach to preventing severe COVID-19 illness and the need for hospitalization, as well as for preventing transmission of the infection to household members,” said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventative medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“We need randomized trials to test vitamin D for these purposes, and our VIVID trial will fill these knowledge gaps,” said Manson who is also the principal investigator of the Vitamin D for COVID-19 (VIVID) study, which is currently enrolling patients.
The nationwide, placebocontrolled study will include people age 30 and older who have gotten a positive coronavirus test result within the previous five days.
The 2,700 participants will take either high-dose vitamin D or a placebo pill for four weeks to see whether taking the supplement reduces the severity of symptoms and risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19.
Manson said there are no harmful side effects to taking high doses of vitamin D.
The trial is conducted entirely remotely with no travel or clinic visits required. Participants can also enroll a household member who does not have coronavirus to test whether vitamin D supplements can lower the risk of becoming infected.
The best established benefits of vitamin D are for bone health, said Manson, and the main sources are sun exposure, fatty fish and fortified cereals and dairy products.
“There is lab and clinical evidence that vitamin D boosts our immune system to help fight off infections,” said Manson, adding that other studies show vitamin D can reduce excessive inflammation, which plays a large role in severe coronavirus.
Manson is not the only Boston researcher to look into vitamin D and its effects on coronavirus.
Boston University Dr. Michael Holick found in a study that people who had deficient levels of vitamin D had 54% higher COVID positivity compared to those with adequate levels of vitamin D in the blood.