Updated 3 years ago
Scientists are discovering one reason more people of color are dying of coronavirus than white people – because they tend to have lower vitamin D in their bodies due to skin pigmentation – and vitamin D regulates our immune system and reducing risk of cytokine storms. Definitely time for people – esp. people of color – to start taking Vitamin D supplements unless you do indeed get 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight between 10am and 2pm or get it through dairy. Vegetarians take note!!
This correlation is fascinating because of the genetic origins of the white skin adaptation (lower sunlight plus added bonus of drinking cow milk)
Also, why we are about to see copper in high-end hospitals.
Listen to Radiolab WNYC – Invisible Allies
As scientists have been scrambling to find new and better ways to treat covid-19, they’ve come across some unexpected allies. Invisible and primordial, these protectors have been with us all along. And they just might help us to better weather this viral storm.
To kick things off, we travel through time from a homeless shelter to a military hospital, pondering the pandemic-fighting power of the sun. And then, we dive deep into the periodic table to look at how a simple element might actually be a microbe’s biggest foe.
This episode was reported by Simon Adler and Molly Webster, and produced by Annie McEwen, Pat Walters, Simon Adler, and Molly Webster, with production help from Tad Davis.
