Vitamin C, zinc don't help beat Covid: UAE docs back US study

Dubai - Ever since the pandemic grew, the demand for these two nutrients have seen a stupendous rise.

Taking zinc and vitamin C supplements won’t do any good in treating Covid-19, doctors in the UAE have said, while reiterating findings of a new US study.

In the study published recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the supplements have apparently been found to be ineffective in decreasing the severity of Covid-19 infection or the duration of it.

While there is still no proven remedy or treatment drug to relieve Covid-19 symptoms, the one thing people have been meticulously doing is to increase their intake of immunity-boosting supplements like vitamin C and zinc.

Ever since the pandemic grew, the demand for these two nutrients have seen a stupendous rise. This is because many believed that these work to supercharge immunity.

Dr Aashima Yawar, specialist internal medicine prime medical centre, Mizhar branch Arabian Centre, said: “We are aware that vitamin C and zinc play an immunomodulatory function and a role in maintaining physical tissue barrier along with antiviral and anti-inflammatory benefits. During the initial days of Covid-19, treating the patients from all possible dimensions was looked into and historically our knowledge of these micronutrients suggested likewise.”

She added: “More recently a study by Cleveland Clinic (Covid-19 A to Z study) was published in JAMA on February 12. It showed no significant decrease in the severity or duration of Covid-19 symptoms. They conducted the study on 214 adult patients with Covid-19 from April 2020 to October 2020. Patients were divided into four groups with one group receiving zinc, others vitamin C, some both and others standard care. They were managed on an outpatient basis. The study was discontinued on the basis of the futility and lack of statistically significant improvement in symptoms in the groups.”

However, doctors explained while this important clinical data cannot be ignored before disregarding the role of vitamin C and zinc completely, one requires larger population-based clinical trials.

They highlighted this must be based on different settings as in hospitalised patients and taking different variables as age factors and comorbid conditions into consideration.

Danya Al Atrash, clinical dietitian, Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, Dubai, explained: “It is a popular myth that taking zinc or vitamin C-rich foods will protect us from common flu and other diseases. Covid-19 evokes similar symptoms to that of common flu. This could have been the reason why people started taking zinc and vitamin rich foods. However, it should be realised that once affected by the disease, these supplements will not help in faster recovery as per research.”

“But zinc and vitamin C are both important to the human body due to their antioxidant properties and must be a part of our daily diet. Foods rich in zinc and vitamin C help with immunity health. Therefore, it does not mean that people should not consider focusing on vitamin C and zinc-rich foods or supplements. A well balanced diet is a good mix of all vitamins and minerals, within the recommended doses and as advised by your healthcare provider,” pointed out Atrash.

The patients were compared on the basis of severity of six basic symptoms- fever/chills, shortness of breath, cough, runny nose/congestion, loss of taste and fatigue.

Dr Ali Mohamad Aldibbiat, consultant endocrinologist and diabetologist, Prime Hospital, averred: “The trial did show no added advantage to the addition of either zinc gluconate, vitamin C or both together in comparison to placebo.”

He pointed out: “But during a crisis, we search for solutions to the problems with the available tools to us. Hence, it made sense to use harmless treatments such as zinc and vitamin C, while awaiting evidence from clinical trials. This becomes an issue when proposed treatments are not so safe , for example when hydroxychloroquine was widely used and was later noted in clinical trials to not only lack benefit but also cause harm in some people.”

nandini@khaleejtimes.com