IRISH medical experts are urging people to take Vitamin D supplements to help their bodies fight off Covid-19.
Leading figures from several Irish universities have called on the government to issue updated guidance recommending the use of Vitamin D supplements - which they say can significantly reduce the risk of infection, serious illness and death from the respiratory disease - by all adults.
Despite mounting research attesting to the benefits of taking supplements, and the importance of Vitamin D in particular, no steps have yet been taken to incorporate this into government guidelines.
Recent data has shown a reduction in ICU admission rates among patients taking Vitamin D supplements.
Evidence from Andalucía in Spain also supports these findings, as an initiative to provide Vitamin D supplements to vulnerable groups coincided with a drop in daily mortality rates.
Owing in part to its grey and drizzly climate, Ireland's population is deficient in Vitamin D across all age groups, and so experts including Professor Declan Byrne, clinical director at St James' Hospital, and Professor Rose Anne Kenny, principal investigator of TILDA, are urging the Department of Health to change its current guidelines to reflect this reality.
An intake of 20-25 micrograms is the recommended dose for adults to boost their immune response to the virus.
Another researcher, Dr Dan McCartney, who is programme director of human nutrition and dietetics at TU Dublin and Trinity College, said: "Along with mask-wearing, hand-washing, social-distancing and cough etiquette, taking Vitamin D supplements now will give the Irish population a degree of protection while the vaccine is being rolled out.”
