tanning, coronavirus

Tanning salon - support in the fight against coronavirus?

The whole world of science is now focused on one topic: COVID-19 and effective methods to combat this threat. Reports on the key role of vitamin D appear in this context increasingly. The so-called "vitamin of the sun" can also be supplemented ... during a visit to the tanning salon.

What is worth knowing? What can the latest research results mean for the tanning industry?

low vitamin D levels vs. risk of death

Researchers at Northwestern University have noted the phenomenon of a higher risk of death from coronavirus infection among patients who suffered from significant vitamin D deficiencies.Researchers have collected data for their research from health centres around the world, including China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and the United States.

One of the authors of the study, Ali Daneshkhah, draws attention to the importance of the so-called cytokine storm - an inflammation caused by an excessive and inadequate response of the immune system to the threat.

"Cytokine storm can severely damage lungs and lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in patients. This is what seems to kill a majority of COVID-19 patients, not the destruction of the lungs by the virus itself." - explains the author.

There is a strong correlation between the frequency of inflammation and vitamin D levels.

“Our analysis shows that it might be as high as cutting the mortality rate in half” - adds Vadim Backman, who coordinates the research.

low vitamin D levels vs risk of infection

Researchers at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla in Spain have found that as many as 80 per cent of patients infected with the coronavirus also suffered from vitamin D deficiencies. This figure alone tells us little... Until we compare it with the level of vitamin D deficiency in the control group (i.e. a group of healthy people of similar age and gender, from the same geographical area). In this case only 47 per cent of respondents had a vitamin D deficiency - a difference of as much as 33 percentage points! Co-author of the study, Dr José L. Hernández of the Universidad de Cantabria in Spain recommends treatment with vitamin D in COVID-19 patients with low levels of this compound in the blood.

“Vitamin D could almost be thought of as a designer drug for helping the body to handle viral respiratory infections. It boosts the ability of cells to kill and resist viruses and simultaneously dampens down harmful inflammation, which is one of the big problems with Covid.”

These are the words of Adrian Martineau, professor at the prestigious Queen Mary University in London, specialising in respiratory infections and immunity.

Scientists from the University of East Anglia took a step further and prophylactic vitamin supplementation as a form of protection against coronavirus infection. Also, the British Minister for Health, Matt Hancock, (despite his initial scepticism on the subject), is now directly recommending increasing the level of vitamin D to protect against coronavirus.

Does vitamin D deficiency affect me too?

Recent large observational data have suggested that about ~40% of Europeans are vitamin D deficient. Such a situation has been described as being pandemic! It is worth pointing out that we are talking here about research carried out before the pandemic, when being outside was not restricted and faces were not covered with masks. Why is this so important? The human body produces vitamin D3 up to 80-90% under the influence of sunlight. We can therefore guess that these deficiencies have increased further in recent months.

Get vitamin at the tanning salon

Moreover - in autumn and winter, in our latitude, it is impossible to obtain the required dose of vitamin D during walks. There is simply not enough sun, especially UVB rays which play a key role in vitamin synthesis. Besides, on cold days we only reveal a small part of the skin. Instead, we expose our entire body to the solarium and the UVB radiation is optimal.

What do we know in a nutshell?

  • more and more studies indicate a strong link between infection, severe COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency;
  • about 40% of Europeans have deficiency of this vitamin - it is a common health problem;
  • a visit to the tanning salon is one of the most important methods of increasing the level of vitamin D ("vitamin of the sun") - especially in autumn and winter.

Should the tanning salons be opened as soon as possible in this situation? Should visits to the tanning salons even be recommended to support immunity and health care?

The answer is obvious...

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