Black Patients Matter. Here’s How to Help Newsweek – Sept 2021
“African Americans were 2.8 times more likely than white Americans to be hospitalized due to COVID-19,
and twice as likely to die from it.”
[Newsweek then acknowledges vitamin D absorption as a factor, but it’s by far the main factor.
“Some of this difference is attributed to factors beyond our control such as differences in vitamin D absorption.”
They cite this study, Does the High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in African Americans Contribute to Health Disparities? (full text), which states:
African Americans have higher incidence of, and mortality from, many health-related problems than European Americans. They also have a 15 to 20-fold higher prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency. Here we summarize evidence that: (i) this health disparity is partly due to insufficient vitamin D production, caused by melanin in the skin blocking the UVB solar radiation necessary for its synthesis….]