vitamin D Archives - MyMedicPlus

Vitamin D could help protect against the most severe symptoms of COVID-19

mymedicplus — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 06:59:52 +0000

Source – https://rejerusalem.com/

TAMPA, Fla. — More and more doctors are getting behind the idea of taking a simple over-the-counter supplement to help protect you from the most severe symptoms of COVID-19.

Not only that but the flu and colds as well.

Tampa Bay chiropractor Dr. Scott Paton has been recommending vitamin D3 to his patients since early in the pandemic and he believes it helped protect his own family.

On April 13, after doing quite a bit of research, Dr. Scott Paton posted a video on his Facebook page talking about the importance of vitamin D.

Dr. Paton said he made the video because he wanted to talk about the research behind how vitamin D helps with acute upper respiratory infections.

“It’s been helping a lot of my patients, I hope it helps you,” Paton said.

Dr. John Sinnott from Tampa General Hospital and USF Health agrees.

When the coronavirus hit the U.S., he tested his own vitamin D level and found it was low.

“I right away went on 4,000 units of vitamin D a day and within a week my levels were normal.”

Dr. Paton’s family takes their vitamin D every day.

When his college-age son tested positive the first week of school, they all got tested.

“Apparently we had it, and we didn’t know we had it,” Paton said.

Paton said they had no symptoms whatsoever. He believes that’s because of the vitamin D. He posted this update on his Facebook page in early September.

“This isn’t me just saying take your vitamin D based on anecdotal evidence. This is researched evidence,” Paton said.

Dr. Sinnott agrees. He said when people ask him what they can do to prevent COVID-19 he tells them this: “you wear a mask, you socially distance, you wash your hands, you take vitamin D.”

Dr. Sinnott added people should not take Vitamin D if they have kidney stones.

As far as thinking you are getting enough from the sun, you likely aren’t. Sunscreen and clothing block the absorption of it and you would have to spend a significant amount of time in direct sunlight to get enough, which could be risky for other reasons.

It’s estimated more than half of adults in this country are vitamin D deficient. Doctors know this is an important building block of the immune system and it’s a simple fix, just take a supplement.

Finally, always talk with your doctor before starting any supplements.

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Children end up having high blood pressure if born with lower vitamin D

mymedicplus — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 05:58:21 +0000

Source :- business-standard.com

A recent study discovered that vitamin D deficiency from birth to early childhood is associated with an increased risk of elevated blood pressure in later childhood and adolescence.

According to the study published in the Journal of Hypertension, researchers examined 775 children from birth to age 18. Later when they compared children who were born with adequate vitamin D levels, they found that children born with low levels of vitamin D had an approximately 60 per cent higher risk of elevated systolic blood pressure (values that determine whether your blood pressure is normal, too high or too low) between ages 6 and 18.

Secondly, the researchers discovered that children who had persistently low levels of vitamin D through early childhood had double the risk of elevated systolic blood pressure between ages 3 and 18.

And lastly, they found that high systolic blood pressure readings increase the risk of cardiovascular disease even when diastolic blood pressure, the second number in a blood pressure reading, is controlled.

“Currently, there are no recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to screen all pregnant women and young children for vitamin D levels. Our findings raise the possibility that screening and treatment of vitamin D deficiency with supplementation during pregnancy and early childhood might be an effective approach to reduce high blood pressure later in life,” said Guoying Wang, the study’s lead author.

Wang added that what constitutes optimal circulating vitamin D levels during pregnancy and early childhood remains an active research question and that their study results need to be replicated in other large populations.

Vitamin D is needed for the body to absorb calcium for strong bones. It is made by our bodies when we are exposed to sunlight and found in a few foods, such as eggs, salmon and fortified milk products. It is also available as a vitamin supplement.

High blood pressure is a leading, preventable cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Along with an increase in obesity among children, the prevalence of high blood pressure in children has been on the rise in recent years. High blood pressure in childhood is an important risk factor for having high blood pressure and developing cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

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