Vitamin D and Sunlight

 

American Journal of Infection Control

Volume 48, Issue 9, September 2020, Pages 1042-1044

 

Highlights

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A significant correlation was found between latitude and COVID-19 fatalities.

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Countries closer to the equator have lower COVID-19 fatality rates than those that are further from the equator.

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UV radiation from sunlight increases with proximity to the equator.

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Insufficient sunlight on skin exposure contributes to vitamin D deficiency.

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Reported vitamin D deficiency in COVID-19 fatalities may be UV related.

An additional interesting item arguing for more Vitamin D and sunlight:

Lower risks for cancer have been found in countries with higher levels of sunlight exposure.11, 12, 13 One study compared cancers in sunny countries with lower latitudes with less sunny countries with higher latitudes and concluded “that vitamin D production in the skin decreased the risk of several solid cancers (especially stomach, colorectal, liver and gallbladder, pancreas, lung, female breast, prostate, bladder and kidney cancers).”¹³ Significantly lower rates of prostate cancer was found in men whose birth place and longest place of residence was in southern states of the United States, leading the authors to conclude that “residential sunlight exposure reduces the risk of prostate cancer.”¹⁴ Deaths from prostate cancer in America were compared with sunlight UVB exposure and the results were highly significant r = −0.0001), meaning that men who received more sunlight were less likely to die from prostate cancer.¹²

The high mortality rate for African-Americans from COVID-19 is therefore unsurprising. From Journal of Nutrition:

Vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among African Americans (blacks) than other Americans and, in North America, most young, healthy blacks do not achieve optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations at any time of year. This is primarily due to the fact that pigmentation reduces vitamin D production in the skin. Also, from about puberty and onward, median vitamin D intakes of American blacks are below recommended intakes in every age group, with or without the inclusion of vitamin D from supplements.