Vitamins: Powerful Health-Promoting Tools In The Fight Against COVID-19

A recent study from Iran examines the effect of vitamin supplementation on disease severity and inflammatory responses in intensive care unit (ICU) patients suffering from COVID-19. Conducted in the form of a randomized clinical trial, a total of 30 patients were given a combination of vitamins A, C, D, E, and B complex. A further 30 patients functioned as the control group and received neither vitamins nor a placebo. At the end of the study, after evaluating the results and noting that not a single participant given the vitamins had died, the researchers confirmed that vitamin supplementation could improve the inflammatory response and decrease the severity of disease in ICU patients afflicted with COVID-19. The trial adds to the already impressive and growing volume of evidence that vitamins are powerful health-promoting tools in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Conducted at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, the stated goal of the study was to evaluate whether multivitamin supplementation could improve the laboratory and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to a hospital ICU. All of the patients taking part in the trial were informed about this goal and signed forms indicating their consent to participate. The study is published in the open access peer-reviewed medical journal Trials.

Saving lives and reducing hospital stays

Noting the synergistic effect of vitamins in strengthening immune system function, the researchers gave the patients in the intervention group the following supplement dosages during the 7-day study period:

The results show that while none of the 30 patients given the vitamins died during the period of the study, 4 of the 30 patients in the control group died. Moreover, while just 4 patients in the vitamin group had a hospital stay of more than 7 days, a total of 16 patients in the control group had a stay this long. In addition, compared to the control group, the vitamin group patients were found to have significantly decreased serum levels of inflammatory markers. No complications or side effects were detected from the vitamin treatment.

Time for vitamins to move into the medical mainstream

The Iranian study adds to the growing volume of evidence that vitamins are powerful health-promoting tools in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as early as March 2020, a Chinese medical team had already reported the successful treatment of coronavirus patients with high-dose vitamin C. Further confirming the status of vitamin C as the critical nutrient in the pandemic, subsequent trials have confirmed that it greatly reduces mortality in patients at life-threatening stages of COVID-19. Utilizing the micronutrient synergy approach, scientists at the Dr. Rath Research Institute have since proven that combining vitamin C with other natural compounds impedes key mechanisms of coronavirus infection.

With a team of Spanish doctors further demonstrating that high-dose vitamin D cuts the risk of death from the virus by 60 percent, and Singapore researchers showing that daily doses of vitamin D, vitamin B12 and magnesium reduce the severity of COVID-19 in older patients, it is time for vitamins to move into the medical mainstream of COVID-19 prevention and treatment. Two years into the pandemic, if pharmaceutical medicine had an effective and safe solution to the problem, we would surely have seen it by now.