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

bmj.com

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

#171

Post by 8bitsrule »

leto_ii wrote: post #52
hannob wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can say from my own experience that the lack of vitamin D can have a significant impact on both mind and body. No you can't. That's not how this works.

> No you can't. Yes I can :D While my experience is obviously not definitive scientific proof it can still bring some value. To give you a more simple example: when I broke my leg I went to the doctor's and put it in a cast. That helped me tremendously. Is that a well designed randomized controlled trial? No. Is it good advice to anybody with a broken leg? I would say so.

A philosopher named Maxwell made an assertion in class one day.

Me: "You can't say that."

Philosopher: "I just did."

Remainder of students: laughter

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

#172

Post by hexl »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #87
bad_user wrote: post #36

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…

I have a really funky immune system. I have psoriasis for starters, and in 2017 I had to have neurosurgery to remove strep B from my spinal column and learn how to walk again because my immune system hadn't been able to fight it off. I have reduced my alcohol intake, lost weight and have been taken medication that isn't an immunosuppressant (acetretin), for the psoriasis, along with the NHS giving me a free flu jab a…

I had MS-like symptoms about 2 years ago: weird sensations on my skin, sudden pain spots, random ant-like crawling sensations, etc... they were getting worse but MRI came fine, Spinal Fluid testing came fine, etc...

However, my vitamin D levels were low. I started taking D3 and noticed that some symptoms got worse at first but gradually went away after a few weeks. Now, every time symptoms come back, I take vitamin D and they are gone a few days later.

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

#173

Post by mntmoss »

bad_user wrote: post #36

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…

I have been supplementing with varying amounts of D3 since 2010. That year a housemate had come down with a bad flu and I handed him 4000IU as an "anti-inflammatory". The next day he knocked on my door ecstatically and asked what that was. His symptoms had nearly disappeared.

And in the past decade, I can count only a few times when I was struck hard by cold or flu, and they were when I had let supplementation trail off. When I'm having it daily, then the typical inflammatory symptoms only appear near or past the peak of the infection, and otherwise it just presents as tiredness and scatterbrained thinking, which I have learned to notice and pay some attention to.

I currently believe that some theraputic benefit may continue up to 8000 IU or so, but this is purely guesswork on my part, having tried amounts higher and lower. What I am confident in saying, having reviewed the research recently, is that there is some clinically studied, but poorly understood positive correlation between vitamin D supplementation and regulation of cytokine production, which is crucial for surviving the symptoms of respiratory diseases of this type.

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

#174

Post by qbaqbaqba »

bad_user wrote: post #36

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…

> 2000 UI of vitamin D daily

If you can, you should ask your physician to have your vitamin D level marked. Too much is not good either.

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

#175

Post by bad_user »

qbaqbaqba wrote: post #174
bad_user wrote: post #36

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…

> 2000 UI of vitamin D daily If you can, you should ask your physician to have your vitamin D level marked. Too much is not good either.

I've checked my 25-OHD levels before (which prompted my doctor to recommend vitamin D supplements) and 6 months after.

95% of the population need supplementation with 1700 UI to reach a serum level of 75nmol/L (considered optimal) [1]. Men can metabolize 3000-5000 UI [2]. The body adapts to higher doses by stopping solar synthesis thus we can tolerate up to 10000 UI [3].

Also vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and a supplement isn't necessarily absorbed well. Thus 2000 UI is generally recommended for individuals that have sub-optimal levels (this was a prescription from my doctor which is fairly standard) and it isn't considered toxic if you take up to 10000 UI.

[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17344484

[2]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12499343

[3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10232622

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

#176

Post by hestefisk »

russholmes wrote: post #108
hestefisk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, together with New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, they are the ‘Nature’ equivalent of medical science.

The BMJ is the Daily Mail of medical journals, its target audience is whisky-nosed old buffers. Real doctors read the Lancet. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2nedgv

According to Wikipedia: “ As of 2008, the five journals that have been cited most frequently by articles published in The BMJ are The BMJ, The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.” So your statement is quite incorrect or you are being sarcastic.

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

#177

Post by posix_me_less »

joquarky wrote: post #169
makeset wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of a seemingly smart and reasonable doctor I once saw for an annual check. Upon hearing that I'd been taking 3,000 IU, the guy completely Lost. His. Shit. I got a lecture about not going against FDA recommendations, which is 400 IU. The "outdated brainbase" phenomenon with doctors is too real.

It would be nice if doctors were compelled to keep up with the times or risk being driven out of the market. Front end developers have to do so.

Compulsory exam on new important medical knowledge every two years!

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

#178

Post by posix_me_less »

aldoushuxley001 wrote: post #133
CodeWriter23 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vitamin D in the study you provide, D2 & D3 in the OP link. Chemistry and source matters. D is synthetic, D2 is plant derived, D3 animal derived.

D3 mostly comes from fungi as far as commercial sources for supplements are concerned, I'm pretty sure.

D3 is made by irradiating lanolin (from sheep wool) with UV light [1]. Natural source of D3 is oily fish, beef liver. It's the Vitamin D2 that is made from fungi - UV light helps to create it in mushrooms [2].

[1] https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-industrial-process-involve...

[2] https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessiona...

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