Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#31

Post by throwawayhhakdl » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:07 PM UTC

KaiserPro wrote: post #11

Table 4: > When all studies were analysed together, no statistically significant effect of vitamin D was seen on the proportion of participants with at least one upper respiratory tract infection, lower respiratory tract infection, hospital admission or emergency department attendance for acute respiratory tract infection, course of antimicrobials for acute respiratory tract infection, or absence from work or school…

Without reading the study in detail, I feel like 4,483 is too few people to detect an effect like this because you can’t easily control for how much vitamin d people get from the sun.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#32

Post by arkitaip » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:07 PM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #15

ehnto wrote: post #6

Interesting! Anecdotally I used to get very, very bad respiratory infections once a year when working in an office full time, getting at best an hour in the sun a day. Now I remote work and get anywhere from 2-6 hours sun most days, and I haven't had a serious infection for more than a year and a half. Could still be coming, but I feel 200% better overall so regardless, highly recommend getting outside more. Edit: ma…

Some offices have mold in the carpet. Not saying that sun doesn’t have an effect but mold and exposure to other people could also be factors

And most offices have too high carbon dioxide levels, so much so that researchers can actually measure the negative impact on cognitive abilities [1].

[1] https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1510037

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#33

Post by kasperni » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:08 PM UTC

This is a personal experience. But I've been struggling with constant throat infections, tiredness and coughing every winter for years (I live in a Nordic country). Had my 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D(D3+D2) checked in both autumn and winter 2 years ago. In October it was ~ 110 nmol/L and in February it was ~ 30 nmol/L. (Deficiency is around 50 nmol/L).

Seeing the seasonal difference was a bit of an eye-opener. And I have been on high dose Vitamin D supplements this winter. And all of my "winter" issues have more or less disappeared.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#34

Post by Spacemolte » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:08 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #6

Interesting! Anecdotally I used to get very, very bad respiratory infections once a year when working in an office full time, getting at best an hour in the sun a day. Now I remote work and get anywhere from 2-6 hours sun most days, and I haven't had a serious infection for more than a year and a half. Could still be coming, but I feel 200% better overall so regardless, highly recommend getting outside more. Edit: ma…

Very anecdotally but.. I remember my family, 2 adults and 3 kids, going on a two week vacation during the european winter many years ago, and I have been told that none of us were sick in the year afterwards.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#35

Post by bilekas » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:10 PM UTC

narrator wrote: post #8

Hacker News has gone from the anger to the bargaining phase of grief. 4chan, ahead of the curve naturally, is currently in full blown depression phase.

4chan in full blown depression phase ??

That place breeds depression.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#36

Post by bad_user » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:11 PM UTC

I suffer from allergic asthma and tend to catch colds quite frequently.

This year I started supplementing with 2000 UI of vitamin D daily and it's as if my immune system started functioning normally, in the last 10 months I only caught a really light cold that I could barely notice, whereas before this the winter season alone would bring 2 severe cold or flu episodes that would knock me down for several days.

I can't really say if it's the vitamin D, or other changes in my life, like losing some weight or walking more, or the cold exposure I've been practicing (primarily because I heard it burns calories :-)), it might be even placebo, I haven't isolated these variables well, but my wife and close ones are amazed by the transformation. E.g. 3 weeks ago everyone in my household got the flu, except for me.

So now I got everyone in my household on vitamin D, especially b/c of this coronavirus scare. During summer time we might not need it, but the sun doesn't see us during winter. And vitamins are probably no defense against the coronavirus, but a deficiency could amplify the damage (as vit D has a role in our immune system) so it's best to ensure that we aren't deficient. Also we tolerate large doses of vitamin D, so it can't hurt.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#37

Post by mc32 » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:12 PM UTC

So cold viruses do better in cold weather and in northern latitudes with fewer sunlight hours we may expect the combination to result in more cold in winter time?

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#38

Post by mherdeg » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:12 PM UTC

As a layperson it feels to me like research in the "megadose on vitamins to prevent illness" area is kind of tainted by the legacy of Linus Pauling, who was no doubt a genius in his fields and whose published literature advocated the position that vitamin C megadose would reduce cancer deaths by 75% ( https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitam... ).

I guess we know how to avoid the trouble -- make hypotheses and test them. The trouble there is that the placebo effect is not a bad thing -- if you're doing things which you think will improve your wellness and it works, who cares whether there's a chemical mechanism? It works!

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#39

Post by vixen99 » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:14 PM UTC

eyeball wrote: post #9

What’s the connection between calcium and D? I recall someone telling me you had to be careful of supplementing D or you could promote calcification in arteries. You had to take with a calcium shop or something. Is that true?

Can't quote from memory but there is substantial evidence that this is not a problem unless you're taking massive doses (tens of thousands of IU) on a daily basis for a lengthy period. Naturally those interested should check this out for themselves.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#40

Post by 99052882514569 » Mon, Mar 02, 2020, 1:14 PM UTC

narrator wrote: post #8

Hacker News has gone from the anger to the bargaining phase of grief. 4chan, ahead of the curve naturally, is currently in full blown depression phase.

I don't recall any anger. Hacker News is in the 'focus on facts' phase of responding to mass panic, and I believe we won't move on to the 'resignation' phase anytime soon.