Pneumonia and low vitamin D - many studies

Pneumonia Risk, intensity, and mortality are all associated with low vitamin D

Pneumonia in Vitamin D Life

• Fewer children died of pneumonia after 100,000 IU Vitamin D injection – RCT March 2021

• Vitamin D supplementation could prevent and treat influenza, CORONAVIRUS, and pneumonia infections - March 2020

• Ventilator-associated pneumonia death rate cut in half by Vitamin D injection (300,000 IU) – RCT July 2017

• Search Vitamin D Life for community pneumonia 1080 items as of March 2021

• All items in Breathing and vitamin D category items

• ICU patients with pneumonia stay 7 days longer if low vitamin D - Dec 2011

• Much higher hospital costs (ICU and pneumonia) if low vitamin D – Dec 2015

Risk Factor estimates for Pneumonia

• Acute pneumonia in children 3X less likely if greater than 30 ng of vitamin D – Jan 2021

• Pneumonia 6X more likely if very low vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2019

• Pneumonia patients 3 X more likely to die if low vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2017

• Pneumonia acquired in hospital – 3X more likely to die if low vitamin D – June 2015

• Pneumonia in seniors was 2.5X more likely if low vitamin D – June 2014

• Pneumonia 2.6X more likely if low vitamin D – April 2013

• Any supplementation with vitamin D reduced chance of pneumonia by 50 percent – Oct 2013

• Tripledemic: Flu, COVID, and RSV (all fought by Vitamin D) - Oct 2022 - all three of which can result in viral pneumonia

• studies in Breathing and Seniors

Children and Pneumonia

• Pneumonia in Egyptian Children 3.6 X more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – Aug 2018

• Respiratory infections (RTI) cut in half by 20,000 IU weekly vitamin D if initially deficient – RCT March 2015

• Recurrence of child pneumonia delayed by 100000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Oct 2010

• Children with pneumonia in Ethiopia were 22X more likely to have rickets – 1997

• studies in Breathing and (Infants or Children)

6 of 85 Pneumonia and Vitamin D publications PubMed- April 2025

• Cost-effectiveness of high-dose vitamin D supplementation to reduce the occurrence of repeat episodes of pneumonia in children Nov 2024 FREE PDF

• Vitamin D as an adjunct to antibiotics for the treatment of acute childhood pneumonia Jan 2023 FREE PDF

• Effect of Adjunctive Single High-Dose Vitamin D 3 on Outcome of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Hospitalised Adults: The VIDCAPS Randomised Controlled Trial - Sept 2018 📄 Download the RCT PDF from Vitamin D Life

  • 17X more likely for Pneumonia to go away in those starting with <10 ng and getting a single dose of 200,000 IU of Vitamin D

  • Note: Not statistically significant

• The Association Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies - Sept 2019

  • 1.6X more likely if < 20 ng of Vitamin D 📄 Download the Meta-Analysis from Vitamin D Life

• Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation in the Prevention of Recurrent Pneumonia in Under-Five Children - Dec 2019,DOI: 10.1007/s12098-019-03025-z

  • 300,000 IU given quarterly 📄 Download the PDF from Sci-Hub via Vitamin D Life

• Vitamin D Supplementation for Treatment and Prevention of Pneumonia in Under-five Children: A Randomized Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial - Aug 2016 📄 Download the RCT PDF from Vitamin D Life

  • 100,000 IU temporaily raised vitamin D levels by an average of 30 ng, not much benefit (needed much larger dose)

Future childhood pneumonia cut in half by 300,000 IU of Vitamin D - meta-analysis Oct 2020

Efficacy of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation as an Adjuvant Treatment on Pneumonia: Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies

Nutrition in Clinical Practice October 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/ncp.10585 Behind !2 paywall

Chao Yang MD, PhD, Yifei Lu MD, Min Wan MPH, Dengfeng Xu MD, PhD, Xian Yang MD, PhD, Ligang Yang MD, PhD, Shaokang Wang MD, PhD, Guiju Sun MD, PhD

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summarize randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence and evaluate the efficacy and safety of vitamin D (VD) supplementation as an adjunct to antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia. Data sources published from the inception dates up to January 2020 were searched. RCTs of VD supplementation of any duration, age, and dosing regimen type were eligible for inclusion if data on pneumonia were collected. Thirteen studies (4786 randomized participants) fulfilled eligibility criteria. VD supplementation significantly increased levels of serum 25(OH)D (mean difference = 15.97; 95% CI, 7.49–24.44; P = .002) and reduced incidence of repeat episodes of pneumonia (risk ratio [RR] = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50–0.93; P = .02).

Subgroup analysis revealed VD supplementation had more reducing effects on repeat episodes of pneumonia among participants in trials in which the population were children

• (RR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.48–0.90), duration <3 months (RR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.33–0.91),

• or dose of VD <300,000 IU (RR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29–0.89).

Although our results suggested that VD supplementation had a positive effect on recovery rate of pneumonia (RR = 1.28; 95% CI, 0.94–1.74; I2 = 13%), there was no statistical difference (P = .12).

High-dose VD intervention may have an effect on reducing the incidence rate of repeat episodes of pneumonia by enhancing immune efficacy, although more population studies are needed to support that VD supplementation has therapeutic effects on pneumonia itself.

Pneumonia in the web

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonia

  • "Pneumonia affects approximately 450 million people globally (7% of the population) and results in about 4 million deaths per year"
  • "Pneumonia often shortens suffering among those already close to death and has thus been called "the old man's friend"."
  • "Pneumonia is due to infections caused primarily by bacteria or viruses and less commonly by fungi and parasites."

  • "Conditions and risk factors that predispose to pneumonia include

    • smoking, immunodeficiency, alcoholism, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, chronic kidney disease, and liver disease."

    • Note by Vitamin D Life - every one of those risk factors is also associated with low vitamin D levels

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-acquired_pneumonia much less likely to be due to a superbug

• Sunshine, rainfall, humidity and child pneumonia in the tropics: time-series analyses June 2013

  • "Lack of sunshine was most strongly associated with pneumonia in both lagged regression. . . and case-crossover analysis"
  • "This association is well known in temperate settings but has not been noted previously in the tropics"
• Search Google for heliotherapy pneumonia 31,000 items
  • sun therapy for pneumonia, TB, etc. was common before the invention of antibiotics
• Be in the Know About Pneumonia Mercola June 2016?
  • "These rates resulted in pneumonia being addressed as the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S., tied with influenza."
  • ". . .it’s one of the two main causes of hospitalization, apart from childbirth."

Pneumonia elderly death 12X more likely when vitamin D less than 12 ng – 2011

Vitamin D, Innate Immunity and Outcomes in Community Acquired Pneumonia

1. Leong Leow1, 2. Talia Simpson3, 3. Ray Cursons3, 4. Noel Karalus1, 5. Robert J Hancox1,2,*

DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2011.01924.x

Background and objective Vitamin D regulates the production of the antimicrobial peptides cathelicidin and beta defensin-2, which play an important role in the innate immune response to infection. We hypothesised that vitamin D deficiency would be associated with lower levels of these peptides and worse outcomes in patients admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia.

Methods Associations between mortality and serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, cathelicidin, and beta defensin-2 were investigated in a prospective cohort of 112 patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia during winter.

Results Severe 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency (<30nmol/L) was common in this population (15%) and was associated with a higher 30-day mortality compared to patients with sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D(>50nmol/L) (OR 12.7 , 95%CI 2.2-73.3, p = 0.004).

These associations were not explained by differences in age, co-morbidities, or the severity of the acute illness.

Neither cathelicidin nor beta defensin-2 levels predicted mortality, although there was a trend towards increased mortality with lower cathelicidin (p = 0.09).

Neither cathelicidin nor beta defensin-2 levels correlated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

Conclusions 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with increased mortality in patients admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia during winter.

Contrary to our hypothesis, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were not associated with levels of cathelicidin or beta defensin-2.

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Vitamin D and bacteria pneumonia causality (ignores the Vitamin D Receptor) - March 2021

Vitamin D and bacterial pneumonias: the question of causality

Thorax. 2021 Mar 2;thoraxjnl-2020-216375. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-216375

Richard James Allen 1

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Vitamin D Life - Inhaled vitamin D help lungs - many studies

Type of Pneumonia: viral, bacterial, fungal

Scientific Animations

25% of Pneumonia is viral (Rhenovirus, Influenza, etc,) - CDC

High-dose Vitamin D reduces recurrent pneumonia by half - meta-analysis Oct 2020

Efficacy of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation as an Adjuvant Treatment on Pneumonia: Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies

Nutrition Considerations for Specific Medical Conditions https://doi.org/10.1002/ncp.10585

Chao Yang MD, PhD, Yifei Lu MD, Min Wan MPH, Dengfeng Xu MD, PhD, Xian Yang MD, PhD, Ligang Yang MD, PhD

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summarize randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence and evaluate the efficacy and safety of vitamin D (VD) supplementation as an adjunct to antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia. Data sources published from the inception dates up to January 2020 were searched. RCTs of VD supplementation of any duration, age, and dosing regimen type were eligible for inclusion if data on pneumonia were collected. Thirteen studies (4786 randomized participants) fulfilled eligibility criteria.

VD supplementation significantly increased levels of serum 25(OH)D (mean difference = 15.97; 95% CI, 7.49–24.44; P = .002) and reduced incidence of repeat episodes of pneumonia (risk ratio [RR] = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50–0.93; P = .02).

Subgroup analysis revealed VD supplementation had more reducing effects on repeat episodes of pneumonia among participants in trials in which the population were children (RR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.48–0.90), duration <3 months (RR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.33–0.91), or

dose of VD <300,000 IU (RR = 0.51 ; 95% CI, 0.29–0.89).

Although our results suggested that VD supplementation had a positive effect on recovery rate of pneumonia (RR = 1.28; 95% CI, 0.94–1.74; I2 = 13%), there was no statistical difference (P = .12).

High-dose VD intervention may have an effect on reducing the incidence rate of repeat episodes of pneumonia by enhancing immune efficacy, although more population studies are needed to support that VD supplementation has therapeutic effects on pneumonia itself.

📄 Download the PDF from Sci-Hub via Vitamin D Life

38+ Vitamin D Life pages have PNEUMONIA in the title

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Pneumonia problems in China might by treated by Vitamin A - Dr. Campbell Videos

Vitamin A and mystery pneumonia Dec 2023

Pneumonia and Vitamin A in China Dec 2023

Vitamin A deficiency is a problem in China, but not the US

See also: Vitamin D and Vitamin A - toxicity and interaction

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