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

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

#91
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.

I see a lot of comments about "megadosing" with vitamins C and D. That sounds like straight-up quackery, not "focusing on the facts".

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

#92
post #72
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> i feel as if my memory is far better and i dont feel tired all the time. I agree. Don't overdo it though, 5000 IU daily seems a bit much :) I live in Amsterdam and take 2000.

Out of personal curiosity, what supplement brand do you take? I live in Ams as well and the season is...horrible.

Currently I take the one from physalis: https://www.hollandandbarrett.nl/shop/product/physalis-vitam...

You can probably play around with the brands and doses a little. I think the important thing is to take gel capsules with oil inside and not solid pills. Vitamin D is fat-soluble so I think solid pills don't get absorbed very well.

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

#93
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

getting my blood panel ran and finding out i was deficient in Vitamin D changed my life for the better once i start daily supplementation of Vitamin D3 (5000 IU). I even live in Florida, but working in an office all day doesn't help. Now that my levels are good, i feel as if my memory is far better and i dont feel tired all the time.

> i feel as if my memory is far better and i dont feel tired all the time. I agree. Don't overdo it though, 5000 IU daily seems a bit much :) I live in Amsterdam and take 2000.

There have actually been a couple of studies lately about Vitamin D recommendations being drastically too low. For example [1] recommends 4000 IU/day for adults and [2] recommends 8000 IU/day.

1: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/744128 2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28768407/

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

#94
post #82
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweden here. My partner is a doctor, she claims with assurance that you can't make a carpet decision like this. People who come from norther latitudes are used to the lack of sun, and their bodies don't need more vitamin D than is provided. Depending on your heritage, ymvm.

Most people in North America are not from northern latitudes genetically unless we are talking about the UK and Germany and even then..

Huh? Europe is generally populated further north than North America is.

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

#95
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is science around this though. If you take a vitamin D blood test that shows low levels a doctor will prescribe a certain dose. Vitamin D is scientifically known to be important for humans, it's not just my opinion.

That may be true, but it’s not the same as a broken leg and cast situation, and you need a well controlled randomized trial to say things about cause and effect for non observable phenomena such as the effects of vitamin supplements.

The point of the leg and cast example was to show that anecdotal evidence can be useful. I deliberately chose a clear and simple example. Indeed the case of vitamin D is more nuanced.

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

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

getting my blood panel ran and finding out i was deficient in Vitamin D changed my life for the better once i start daily supplementation of Vitamin D3 (5000 IU). I even live in Florida, but working in an office all day doesn't help. Now that my levels are good, i feel as if my memory is far better and i dont feel tired all the time.

The FDA's recommendation for Vitamin D daily value is 400 IU. 5000 IU seems extremely and poisonous.

There is research showing that the figure of 400 IU is based on a statistical error [1] (that's the original article, there's plenty more if you search).

Most articles I have read recommend somewhere between 2000 and 5000 IUs. Some recommend higher.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4210929/

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

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I see a lot of comments about "megadosing" with vitamins C and D. That sounds like straight-up quackery, not "focusing on the facts".

Huh, the only comments I saw about "megadosing" were explicitly refuting the notion of megadosing vitamin C, and the effect that that quackery has had on the science. Are we reading the same comments?

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

#98
I am a bit perplexed. Haven't almost all randomized/controlled trials shown (e.g. [1]) that there is basically no measurable effect for healthy people? All "positive" stories are relying on observational studies with the usual confounders, right?

EDIT: Look at figure 2 in the Paper. Looks pretty random to me. Result is almost exclusively driven by 4-5 small ([1] https://www.vox.com/2018/10/4/17933880/vitamin-d-health-sun-...

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

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FDA's recommendation for Vitamin D daily value is 400 IU. 5000 IU seems extremely and poisonous.

My MD prescribed me 5000 IU / day after a blood panel came back with me on the low end of healthy.

Same. He wanted to do it after asking if I worked in an office, and the results came back pretty low.

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

#100
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is science around this though. If you take a vitamin D blood test that shows low levels a doctor will prescribe a certain dose. Vitamin D is scientifically known to be important for humans, it's not just my opinion.

That may be true, but it’s not the same as a broken leg and cast situation, and you need a well controlled randomized trial to say things about cause and effect for non observable phenomena such as the effects of vitamin supplements.

You seem confused as to how science works and what the parent said.

The setup you describe is for proving (with some statistical certainty) a certain causal relationship.

But the author doesn't want to prove it. It has already been proven experimentally. What he said is that he can tell us from his own experience. You don't need a controlled study for that.

I can tell from experience that a certain vitamin X deficiency can be very bad (e.g. because I had it, my doctor verified it, and I got very sick and had Y symptoms) without needing to prove that vitamin X causes Y if it's already proven.

Which is the same case with vitamin D. The parent didn't say he'll prove something novel, just that they'll verify it from experience.

Note that verification from experience is still very useful, even when something isn't proven. It's not as rigorous as science, but it's still very useful, can be life-saving, and it's how civilisation advanced for 1000s of years before we got "controlled studies". People already knew from experience not to eat X or Y plant for example (e.g. poisonous), without official studies and control groups.

People should still be required to be able to make deductions and learn from experience at this level before they offload everything to scientists.

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