Why should we take vitamin-C,vitamin-D,Zinc and other minerals during this pandemic?

• Hello everyone,when a patient suffer from covid 19, we suggest the patient to take Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc etc. But why??

  How these supplements help to fight against Corona Virus? Doctors are also suggesting healthy people to take these supplements.

  In this discussion,we will know the roles played by these 3 supplements against Covid-19.

• Vitamin C

  Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which means that it can fight oxidative damage. When the immune system activates to kill a pathogen ( read corona virus) it may also cause oxidative damage. This suggests that vitamin C could fight the damage that the disease-fighting process causes.

• It also aids healthy immune function by supporting the development of white blood cells.

  In its role as an antioxidant, vitamin C may also help fight inflammation ( read when corona virus enters in our body, patients may experience dangerous level of inflammation), which can damage the lungs and other

Vitamin D

• Nearly all immune cells have vitamin D receptors, showing vitamin D interacts with the immune system.

  The active vitamin D hormone, calcitriol, helps regulate both the innate and adaptive immune systems, our first and second lines of defence against pathogens ( read corona vitus).

  And vitamin D deficiency is associated with immune dysregulation, a breakdown or change in the control of immune system processes.

  Many of the ways calcitriol affects the immune system are directly relevant to our ability to defend against viruses.

  For example, calcitriol triggers the production of cathelicidin and other defensins – natural antivirals capable of preventing the virus from replicating and entering a cell.

  Calcitriol can also increase the number of a particular type of immune cell (CD8+ T cells), which play a critical role in clearing acute viral infections in the lungs.

  Calcitriol also suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokines, molecules secreted from immune cells which, as their name suggests, promote inflammation. Some scientists have suggested vitamin D might help to alleviate the “cytokine storm ( you know, most of the death in Covid 19 is due to cytokine storm).

• Zinc

  Zn may also protect or stabilize the cell membrane which could contribute to blocking of the virus ( read corona virus) entry into the cell. It has been hypothesized that Zn supplementation may be of potential benefit for prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19.