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The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

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Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#241

Post by zamfi »

hannob wrote: post #142
zamfi wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, all patients received these supplemental drugs, as at the time they were considered the best standard of care. (Also to be clear: they're not anti-virals.) Of the 75 patients in the trial, 50 people received additionally Vitamin D3 supplementation (in the form of calcifediol), and 25 did not. Notably, though, diabetes and high blood pressure were substantially more frequent in the control group, which ar…

Hydroxychloroquine was never the "best standard of care". It's a quack treatment that was pushed by some bad studies. Reading Hydroxychloroquine mentioned in this study should make one very suspicious.

This is a substantial oversimplification.

Hydroxychloroquine looked promising for a while, and was being studied in an RCT, but that RCT was ended before completion because of the release of an observational study that suggested strongly negative outcomes from Hydroxychloroquine.

Later, that observational study was retracted because it was discovered to be based on falsified data.

So, unfortunately, we don't know very much about Hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness and risks in use -- but we do know that it has become a massive political hot potato, as your comment indicates.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#242

Post by icelancer »

read_if_gay_ wrote: post #229
icelancer wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using online labs it's super cheap to get it done yourself for less than $50/test. Not worth dealing with insurance BS and your doctor's likely nonsensical ravings about it, just do it and reimburse using your HSA if you have one.

Since it’s dirt cheap and basically impossible to take too much of, just skip the tests and take supplements preemptively.

This is definitely not true. Elevated blood calcium and creatinine levels are definitely possible if you take too much, and people are sensitive at different rates.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#243

Post by icelancer »

exhilaration wrote: post #240
kmonsen wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have some online labs you can recommend?

I paid $47 for this: https://www.lifeextension.com/lab-testing/itemlc081950/vitam... You get a doctor's prescription (from a Florida doctor, good for anywhere in the country) and instructions to go to your nearest Labcorp for a blood draw. So make sure you have a Labcorp near you. Here are a few alternatives you can look into, mentioned in this discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15868143 [0]: https://ww…

Yeah these all use basically the white labeled services behind them, and are all more or less good. Don't want to endorse any of them but I use one in the footnotes.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#244

Post by icelancer »

ghaff wrote: post #137
erentz wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Greater than 70% of African Americans are suspected to be Vit D deficient. Definitely worth getting tested if you can [1] especially if you live in the more northern latitudes. Doubly so during winter. [1] with the note that generally insurance is a real PITA with vitamin D testing. The trick usually is to list as a diagnosis code a previous history of low vitamin D. Yes it’s like a catch 22. You need prior testing s…

>generally insurance is a real PITA with vitamin D testing FWIW, vitamin D has been among the things tested when I have my blood work for an annual physical and never had any insurance issue about it. And I do take supplements because it was low.

It's not for mine. I only get a Basic Metabolic Test for free, VitD the doctor bitches/moans and whatever.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#246

Post by sk0g »

MivLives wrote: post #235

Is there a trustable authority that measures the actual contents of supplements in the US? When I try to search it, it's pretty heavily SEO'd.

LabDoor [0] maybe? Use them for their protein rankings mainly, but they have a Vitamin D section too.

[0] https://labdoor.com/rankings/vitamin-d

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#247

Post by [deleted] »

sunpar wrote: post #230
graeme wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s actually pretty decent. It can make errors in the case of people with extreme muscle mass, or very low muscle mass for their size, or the very short, or the very tall. But for most people, if you’re over 25 bmi you probably could lose some weight. And at a population levels the errors above average out, even in a smaller group. People make a big deal over the exceptions to it while ignoring that it is broadly ac…

At 6'1" BMI seems to say I should be between 140lbs and 185 lbs. I'm currently 165 lbs and feel pretty skinny -- I can't imagine being healthy at 140 lbs! The 185 seems about right -- I've been close to 180 lbs and felt like I could lose a few.

[deleted]

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#248

Post by shajznnckfke »

sunpar wrote: post #230
graeme wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s actually pretty decent. It can make errors in the case of people with extreme muscle mass, or very low muscle mass for their size, or the very short, or the very tall. But for most people, if you’re over 25 bmi you probably could lose some weight. And at a population levels the errors above average out, even in a smaller group. People make a big deal over the exceptions to it while ignoring that it is broadly ac…

At 6'1" BMI seems to say I should be between 140lbs and 185 lbs. I'm currently 165 lbs and feel pretty skinny -- I can't imagine being healthy at 140 lbs! The 185 seems about right -- I've been close to 180 lbs and felt like I could lose a few.

I guess people are downvoting because it’s not super relevant to the discussion, but I have a similar opinion that the BMI normal weight range is unreasonable for me.

I’ve been in these two modes:

1) genuinely overweight with too much fat and not enough muscle

2) nearly overweight according to BMI while very fit, with low fat and high muscle. got here from the other state by exercising a lot, losing fat and gaining muscle.

I think I would have to become totally sedentary again to get rid of my muscle mass and actually reach the lower end of “normal weight” according to BMI, while starving myself and feeling feeble.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#249

Post by graeme »

gameswithgo wrote: post #239
graeme wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s actually pretty decent. It can make errors in the case of people with extreme muscle mass, or very low muscle mass for their size, or the very short, or the very tall. But for most people, if you’re over 25 bmi you probably could lose some weight. And at a population levels the errors above average out, even in a smaller group. People make a big deal over the exceptions to it while ignoring that it is broadly ac…

and high muscle mass causes some of the same heart stress that high fat does. its fun and useful but not "healthy" to be huge, fat or muscular.

Source? I’ve never seen anything but heart benefits associated with muscle mass.

Re: The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Covid-19

#250

Post by hanniabu »

sokoloff wrote: post #165
jonplackett wrote: post #114

Surly now it's time to just start giving everyone some free vitamin D. Best case scenario: Less dead people. Worst case scenario: We all have healthier bones.

Vitamin D pills look to be 3-5¢ per day. Hardly seems like something I’d be supportive of creating a “free” supply chain for.

The biggest issue i think it's availability. When this was hitting the new York area, vitamin d was impossible to find on the shelves. It's available now, but if we start putting out mass messaging to take vitamin d then supply will run dry again. Shady unsafe supplies will then start showing up to make a buck.
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