Vitamin D and Pneumonia

A new study publicised in the New Zealand Herald this week looks at the relationship between severe Vitamin D deficiencies and deaths from pneumonia.


The study completed at Waikato Hospital looked at blood samples of the 112 patients hospitalised with pneumonia. They found that the death rate was 29% for those with very low levels of Vitamin D compared to only 4% amongst those with normal or slight deficiencies. While this was an observational study, it suggests avenues for research on whether Vitamin D is a viable treatment option for respiratory diseases.


The article continues on to look at other studies that have found relationships between vitamin D deficiencies and other diseases – type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cardiovascular disease.


Vitamin D is produced in the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun or artificial sources, and occurs naturally in fish amongst other foods.


Related posts:

  1. Vitamin D Deficiencies At Epidemic Levels
  2. Why are we Vitamin D deficient?
  3. Does Vitamin D affect immune system response?
  4. The Sun. What it really does to you.
  5. Anaemia and Vitamin D

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