Vitamin D Boosts Recovery From Burn Injury

(@FahadShabbir)

Vitamin D boosts recovery from burn injury

People suffering from burns should take Vitamin D supplements to speed up the healing process

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Feb, 2020 ) :People suffering from burns should take Vitamin D supplements to speed up the healing process.

In a first of its kind study, researchers investigated the role of vitamin D in recovery from burn injury.

The findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may be a simple and cost-effective treatment to enhance burn healing.

Vitamin D is known to have antibacterial actions that may help combat infection and therefore aid in wound healing of burn patients, Medical Xpress reported.

Despite improvements in burn care over the last 10 years, many patients are still at risk of poor recovery. Complications can range from delayed wound healing through to infections.

Patients with severe burns are at high risk of infection that may lead to life-threatening sepsis.

In order to investigate the role of vitamin D in recovery from burn injuries, Professor Janet Lord and Dr Khaled Al-Tarrah, at the Institute of Inflammation & Aging in Birmingham, assessed the recovery progress, over one year, in patients with severe burns and correlated this with their vitamin D levels.

The study found that patients with higher levels of vitamin D had a better prognosis, with improved wound healing, fewer complications and less scarring. The data also showed that burns patients tend to have lower levels of vitamin D.

These data suggest that vitamin D supplementation immediately following burn injury may have potent health benefits to the patient, including enhanced antimicrobial activity to prevent infection, and improved wound healing.

Prof Lord states, "Low vitamin D levels were associated with worse outcomes in burn patients including life threatening infections, mortality and delayed wound healing. It was also associated with worse scarring but vitamin D levels are something generally overlooked by clinicians."

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