A new Belgian study examined the effect of two dietary supplements as a complementary treatment in people who end up in hospital with Covid-19. The study showed that a combination of turmeric, quercetin and vitamin D significantly speeded up recovery and hospital discharge.
The research that took place between April and October 2021 in several hospitals of the CHIREC group (Delta, Braine-l’Alleud, St-Anna/Sint-Remi) focused on the possible effect of two types of dietary supplements. The first group of about 24 patients admitted to hospital with severe Covid symptoms received additional therapy with turmeric, quercetin and vitamin D (Nasafytol®) in addition to the standard treatment. Only a vitamin D supplement was administered to the second group of patients, who were very similar to the first group in terms of age, sex, weight and BMI. The only difference between the two patient groups was the vaccination status, with more vaccinees in the vitamin D than in the combination group.
Pneumonia
Turmeric, quercetin, and vitamin D have long been known to have antiviral, antibacterial, and immune-boosting properties. For this reason, the researchers from Artialis (a research and development organization linked to the University of Liège) wanted to find out what effects a combination of the three substances could have on both the covid infection and the associated pneumonia.
“For this study, we chose a combination of bioactive quercetin, a bioactive turmeric extract and vitamin D3, because of their ability to contribute to the proper functioning of the immune system to maintain the effectiveness of the natural defenses,” says Prof. Yves Henrotin, founder and president of Artialis and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liège. “By combining these three elements, we wanted to develop a natural product that would help patients with Covid-19 by reducing the risk of serious complications, while simultaneously reducing the number of patient transfers and overcrowding in ICU units. These were the most important factors to consider during the pandemic, which is why we tested this combination (Nasafytol®), as an adjunct to standard treatment and in line with WHO recommendations for clinical studies on covid- 19.”
Striking progress
After two weeks of treatment, the results were convincing. The group that received the combined supplements twice a day on top of the usual therapy improved significantly for all parameters. For example, after 7 days there was already a striking decrease in the number of people who needed hospitalization. The recovery was faster for them, as a result of which some 76% were even allowed to leave the hospital after 7 days, compared to only 42% of the vitamin D group.
The additional treatment also had a clear effect on the severity of the Covid symptoms. This was measured by the WHO’s clinical severity score for Covid-19. Patients who received the combined dietary supplement reported a much faster improvement in their general condition than their colleagues from the vitamin D group.
There was also a difference in terms of complications. In the Nasafytol® group, no patient showed any complications, no one was transferred to an intensive care unit and there were no deaths. In the vitamin D group, 5 people had serious complications, 4 of which were moved to intensive care and 1 patient died.
“We are pleased with these results and the fact that we can provide an adjunct to standard care. This adjunct will not only shorten hospital stays and save lives, but also significantly reduce the workload of hospital staff,” said Dr. Gérain, Head of Internal Medicine at Delta (CHIREC Hospital Group).
Obviously, it remains to confirm the results in a larger group of patients.
The research that took place between April and October 2021 in several hospitals of the CHIREC group (Delta, Braine-l’Alleud, St-Anna/Sint-Remi) focused on the possible effect of two types of dietary supplements. The first group of about 24 patients admitted to hospital with severe Covid symptoms received additional therapy with turmeric, quercetin and vitamin D (Nasafytol®) in addition to the standard treatment. Only a vitamin D supplement was administered to the second group of patients, who were very similar to the first group in terms of age, sex, weight and BMI. The only difference between the two patient groups was the vaccination status, with more vaccinated in the vitamin D than in the combi group. Turmeric, quercetin and vitamin D have long been known to have antiviral, antibacterial and immune-boosting properties. For this reason, the researchers from Artialis (a research and development organization linked to the University of Liège) wanted to investigate what effects a combination of the three substances could have on both the covid infection and the associated pneumonia.” For this study we have chosen a combination of bioactive quercetin, a bioactive turmeric extract and vitamin D3, because of their ability to contribute to the proper functioning of the immune system to maintain the effectiveness of the natural defenses”, says Prof. Yves Henrotin, founder and president of Artialis and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Liège. “By combining these three elements, we wanted to develop a natural product that would help patients with Covid-19 by reducing the risk of serious complications, while simultaneously reducing the number of patient transfers and overcrowding in ICU units. These were the most important factors to consider during the pandemic, which is why we tested this combination (Nasafytol®), as an adjunct to standard treatment and in line with WHO recommendations for clinical studies on covid- 19.”After two weeks of treatment, the results were convincing. The group that received the combined supplements twice a day on top of the usual therapy improved significantly for all parameters. For example, after 7 days there was already a striking decrease in the number of people who needed hospitalization. The recovery was faster for them, as a result of which about 76% were even allowed to leave the hospital after 7 days, compared to only 42% of the vitamin D group. The additional treatment also had a clear effect on the severity of the covid complaints. This was measured by the WHO’s clinical severity score for Covid-19. Patients who received the combined dietary supplement noted a much faster improvement in their general condition than their colleagues from the vitamin D group. There was also a difference in terms of complications. In the Nasafytol® group, no patient showed any complications, no one was transferred to an intensive care unit and there were no deaths. In the vitamin D group, 5 people had serious complications, 4 of which were moved to intensive care and 1 patient died. “We are happy with these results and the fact that we can offer an addition to standard care. This supplement will not only shorten hospital stays and save lives, but also significantly reduce the workload of hospital staff,” said Dr. Gérain, Head of Internal Medicine at Delta (CHIREC hospital group). It only remains to confirm the results in a larger group of patients.