Is It Time for an Official National Strategy to Include Vitamin D in Our Fight Against COVID-19?

My name is Henry A. McCleary, D.C. (Dr. Mac). I have a holistic lifestyle practice in Woodbridge, Virginia. I feel that our public health leaders have made a major omission in the official public health recommendations. 

Most healthcare professionals agree that populations with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk from COVID-19. However, as far as I can tell, our public health officials have not given us any specific steps in the official public health recommendations to guide us in strengthening the metabolic effectiveness and vitality of our immune systems!

I like many healthcare professionals feel that if we implemented a national vitamin D strategy, we could collectively make all our immune systems stronger, and therefore be better prepared to fight COVID-19 when we encounter the SARS-2 virus individually! Please notice I did not say we could CURE COVID-19, but the science indicates that we could individually and collectively be Stronger/Better Prepared much more Pro-Active in Fighting the virus! An once of Prevention is worth a Pound of CURE!

Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data. https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583

This study published in the British Medical Journal concluded the following:

• There was an overall protective effect of vitamin D supplementation, and there were no adverse side effects!
• There was a greater benefit for supplementing daily or weekly. All who supplemented daily or weekly got a protective benefit, but the greatest protection was achieved in those with profoundly low vitamin D blood levels when those blood levels were corrected with supplementation.
• The findings support the need for the introduction of official public health strategies to improve the community vitamin D blood levels, especially in communities where there are commonly significantly low levels of serum vitamin D. 

Many experts estimate that between 105 million and 130 million adults in the United States (40%) are vitamin D deficient! Additionally, 82% of African Americans, and 70% of Hispanic Americans, are estimated to be deficient in vitamin D. The CDC’s statistics show a much higher hospitalization and death rate for people of color due to COVID-19. * COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates by race and ethnicity, * COVID-19 death rate by race/ethnicity 

Here is another import scientific article that strongly supports the need for official public health vitamin D strategies. Published in The Frontiers in Immunology, 23 June 2020. 

Vitamin D Supplementation: A Potential Approach for Coronavirus/COVID-19 Therapeutics? 

https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01523  John F. Arboleda1,2* and Silvio Urcuqui-Inchima1

Their extensive research concluded that metabolically, vitamin D has especially important immune support and protection against the COVID-19 virus.

“Our hypothesis provides a call for research pathways to unravel the role of vitamin D on the pathogenesis of COVID-19, but beyond that, it also opens a hope window for a more immediate, accessible, natural, and cost-effective strategy to prevent, treat and ameliorate propagation of SARS-CoV-2.”

Conclusion:

Based on these studies and many others that indicate that higher levels of serum vitamin D decreases infection rate, severity, and death from COVID-19. I am proposing that we add a National Vitamin D Strategy to our present official public health recommendations. 

• Wash Your Hands Often
• Practice Social Distancing
• Wear Your Mask
• Know Your Vitamin D Score (Blood Levels)
• Commit to Raising Your Score to Levels of 60 ng/ml to 80ng/ml adults, and 50 to 70 for children

The bottom line is that our present strategy is not working! Adding this vitamin D idea to our present strategy could be done quickly, with relatively low cost, almost no serious adverse side effects, and with the huge potential to save lives! We need to begin using ALL the science that is applicable! Too many people are dying for us to ignore any viable potential solution!

About the Doctor

Henry A. McCleary, D.C., is a Holistic Lifestyle Doctor, based in Woodbridge, Virginia. As a member of the non-profit organization, Foundation for Wellness Professionals, Dr. McCleary is committed to the health and wellness of his family, friends, his practice members, his community, and the nation.  www.vitaminD4Life.com

Quote:

“It is time for standard pharmaceutical medicine, and natural/alternative medicine to come together for the good of our nation! It is time to set aside the messy, ugly medical politics and work together to formulate the best of the best from both healthcare traditions. The people of America are counting on us, they deserve our best!”