Vitamin K level very low
‘We have been able to demonstrate that the vitamin K level in the blood is very low in corona patients who die or end up in intensive care. Much lower than in healthy people. So there seems to be a relationship between low vitamin K and a serious course of the disease. ” CWZ will now conduct follow-up research on patients. CWZ announced this news on Tuesday afternoon.
Protective protein
Pulmonologist Rob Janssen supports Ton Dofferhoff. Vitamin K plays a role in clotting blood, but it also plays a role in protecting the elastic fibers in the lungs. Corona causes massive inflammation in the lungs, damaging the elastic fibers that allow us to breathe. In response, your body tries to make more protective protein for those fibers, but needs vitamin K for that. If you don’t have that, you’re missing that protection, so you’re more at risk. ”
Publication
The men are super enthusiastic about their research and are busy getting it published in a leading international magazine. ‘We now want to test giving vitamin K to corona patients. If what we think happens is happening, namely that they are less seriously ill, that would be great, ”says Ton Dofferhoff.
Less serious consequences
‘As a lung specialist, I have gone through very hectic weeks in which I have seen a lot of misery. If we can contribute with this that an infection with the Covid virus has less serious consequences, that would be great, ‘says Rob Janssen.
While he is looking at the tubes of blood in the laboratory with other researchers that the clinical chemist is working on to get the elastic fibers out, he is also waiting for money to continue the research. Money that must come from outside the hospital.
Vitamin K deficiency
The researchers found that patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to CWS with low oxygen concentrations had much lower levels of vitamin K in the body than a control group without the coronavirus. Patients who died of COVID-19 or had to be ventilated at the ICU were also found to have a much more severe vitamin K deficiency than those with milder COVID-19 in CWZ. The results of 123 patients with COVID-19 were compared to a control group of 184 non-corona subjects from whom data were obtained in previous studies.
Function of vitamin K.
People ingest vitamin K through food and absorb it in the gastrointestinal tract. Vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting. However, it does more: Vitamin K also activates proteins that are important for healthy blood vessels and possibly also for healthy lungs. People who use blood thinners from the thrombosis service should not take vitamin K.
Corona with serious attrition
In a severe course of infection with the coronavirus, especially the violent immune response seen in many patients and the serious lung diseases it can cause are known. In addition, the virus causes blood clotting problems and blood clots in many patients that can get stuck in the blood vessels of the lungs (pulmonary emboli). All these events may involve factors that depend on adequate vitamin K for their action.
Follow-up research needed
The researchers took an important step towards understanding what the coronavirus can do, by showing a link between poor prognosis and vitamin K deficiency. However, it cannot yet be said whether vitamin K intake has a beneficial effect in patients with COVID-19. This will be investigated in the short term in a clinical study in CWZ and Maastricht University Medical Center +.
Note: Risks of using vitamin K in thrombosis
In response to reports on the relationship between Vitamin K and the severity of the course of Covid-19, we receive many questions from patients. That is why we would like to provide the following explanation:
The results of the research are valuable and hopeful, while at the same time we must realize that these are first insights that require further research. An association has now been discovered between the course of corona and the vitamin K level in patients. This does not say anything about a more favorable course of the disease when using Vitamin K. Whether this effect is present and whether vitamin K can be used safely in patients with COVID-19 is now being investigated.
Do not use vitamin K for thrombosis
Vitamin K should not be used by people who are taking blood thinners from the Thrombosis Service, because Vitamin K works against these medicines and may lead to clots (blood clots) forming.
Vitamin K intake is therefore dangerous for people who use blood thinners and who are under the control of the thrombosis service. They should continue to take their anticoagulant medication and not take vitamin K. If you have any questions about medication, they should always contact the treating physician.
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