Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
1–10 of 304 posts
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#2I find this compelling:
> Strikingly, 100% of ICU patients less than 75 years old had VDI [Vitamin D Insufficiency]
Since mid-March I've been trying to keep track of Vitamin D/Sunlight suggestions and papers here: https://simonsarris.com/sunlight
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#3Does make me wonder how much of this is VDI and how much of this is the general population having VDI.
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#4Its not clear they compared to any control group?
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#5Does make me wonder how much of this is VDI and how much of this is the general population having VDI.
There are other papers that argue similar. On April 20, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics: low population mortality from COVID‐19 in countries south of latitude 35 degrees North supports vitamin D as a factor determining severity
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.15777
It also notes:
> It could be argued that the virus spread later to the Southern Hemisphere and that countries there are simply behind those in the Northern Hemisphere but as time goes by this argument looks increasingly weak.
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#6Its not clear they compared to any control group?
It's not a study, you can't have a control group in a retrospective review, you can only sort data from the data set. You can complain about the small N, though.
> Among ICU subjects, 11 (84.6%) had VDI, vs. 4 (57.1%) of floor subjects. Strikingly, 100% of ICU patients less than 75 years old had VDI (n=11; Table 2).
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#7Is there any evidence multivitamins are harmful (not just that there's no proof they help improve health?)
It's because of stuff like this I take one. Maybe I'm wasting money, but absent a harm I feel it's worth it to hedge my bets.
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#8Interesting thing... Vitamin D is one of those things that, when vitamins come up on HN, you will often hear the refrain that "it's the one vitamin that large numbers of people are actually deficient in and ought to supplement."
I've heard that many times over the years and I have taken a Vitamin D supplement on and off (more off than on) over the years.
When this COVID-19 thing first hit, I had a physical scheduled (by chance) just about the same time, and I'd heard about this Vitamin D / COVID-19 connection, so when I went in for my physical, I asked my doctor to order a Vitamin D test as part of my bloodwork.
As it turns out, I was indeed very deficient in Vitamin D. I started taking 4000 IU a day and it's had a noticeable impact on my overall sense of wellbeing. It could, of course, be placebo effect even so. And I have no particular reason to think that it will make any difference one way or the other in terms of me getting COVID-19. But I thought it was worth pointing out one more anecdote that suggests that the old "Vitamin D is worth supplementing" refrain might just be true.
If you're in doubt, and it's an option, do what I did... just ask your doctor to run a Vitamin D test next time you go in for a checkup / physical.
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#9Is there any evidence multivitamins are harmful (not just that there's no proof they help improve health?) It's because of stuff like this I take one. Maybe I'm wasting money, but absent a harm I feel it's worth it to hedge my bets.
It all depends on the context.
There is no reason why your body should use the supplement vitamins or minerals if your diet is normal (not deficient). For example, a lot of people eat a bunch of animal products rich in calcium, D3, protein etc. and end up with diseases like osteoporosis, sarcopenia etc. Even with real food their bodies did not do anything with it.
Intervention studies with supplements on these kinds of people show that they rarely help or help very little (not long-term).
You need to make your body use the stuff you give it.
Re: Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe Covid-19
#10Is there any evidence multivitamins are harmful (not just that there's no proof they help improve health?) It's because of stuff like this I take one. Maybe I'm wasting money, but absent a harm I feel it's worth it to hedge my bets.
Yes, vitamin D is well-known to be harmful in excess [0] and to be fat-soluble, meaning that it can build up gradually over time. You might not hear of such conditions very often, though, since getting excess vitamin D usually takes effort.