as retired nursing teacher john campbell put it1 In the video above, vitamin D is “an important immune molecule” that may play a role in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his video review, Campbell reviews some recent papers highlighting the importance of vitamin D, starting with a press release2 From the French National School of Medicine, dated 22 May 2020.
The press release correctly states that vitamin D is a prohormone, meaning it acts as an endocrine hormone. Therefore, it has wide-ranging effects on health. Vitamin D receptors are found throughout the body, in every tissue and organ. Campbell reviews some of the basics of where and how vitamin D is synthesized in the body.
In summary, vitamin D is synthesized in the dermis of the skin in response to ultraviolet rays from the sun. From there, it’s transported to your liver and kidneys, where it’s converted into an active hormone that then circulates throughout your body. People with liver or kidney problems may have a reduced ability to synthesize vitamin D. As the French National Academy of Medicine notes, vitamin D:3
The French medical authority states that there is a “significant association between low serum vitamin D levels and COVID-19 mortality” – which one would expect given its modulatory and modulatory effects on immune function – and that “by reducing inflammatory storm and its aftermath”, “vitamin D” can be considered as an adjunct to any form of treatment.
