Taking vitamin D supplements may help prevent deaths. It is found in a new study that vitamin D may help against acute respiratory infections. It can reduce the risk of colds, flu and other dangerous infections such as pneumonia. UK government advisory warned citizens of the low vitamin D in the UK population.
Previous researchers study the relevance of the lack of vitamin D during winter to the increase of flu and colds during winter. But the results were uncertain. And so a new team analyzed the and pooled the raw data from 25 clinical trials involving about 11,000 patients from 14 countries. The study found that there were no benefit acquired when people were given one-off dose of vitamin D compared to those who take the supplements regularly.
The results show that important, but timid benefits for people that takes the supplements daily or weekly. But it has ample benefits for people who has a low level of vitamin D in their bodies. People with low vitamin D may be staying inside the house more often. They might be covering their skin when exposed to the sun or they might have dark skin that absorbs lesser sunlight.
According to The Guardian, it is hard to get vitamin D from food alone. Vitamin D is in oily fish and shiitake mushrooms, but not much else. Taking regular supplements of vitamin D cut in half the cases of rate of respiratory infections in people with the lowest levels of vitamin D. Among those with high vitamin D levels taking regular supplements of vitamin D cut the cases of infection by 10 percent.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, there are about 70 percent of the UK population get one respiratory infection in a year where 25 percent of which goes to General Practitioners. Respiratory infections such as flu, bronchitis and pneumonia, take a big toll on the nation’s health. More than 50 percent end up with prescriptions of antibiotics, which is not necessary for the case because they are caused by a virus. These infections result in 300,000 hospitalizations and in the UK and about 38,000 deaths. Globally, these infections caused an estimated of 2.65 million deaths in 2013.
