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

Notice the weird mind crinkle: Got to debunk it, and use "prevent you from getting sick" as the reason for it not working (and the subtle differences between: "No research has shown", "research hasn't shown", and "research has shown that it can't prevent you"). Even though plenty of research shows it prevents you from getting severely sick, when you do get sick. Willing to bet that garlic (a famous folk knowledge cure for the flu, smashed boiled garlic with hot water) is actually effective in recovery and severity, but the fact checkers present it as a "COVID cure" and of course that can be debunked. But it is a debunking based on a weird strawman we saw with masks: Masks are not protective to COVID because the eyes can catch it too. As if protectiveness and immune health is binary and anything else than 0 or 1 has to be a lie.

Could not find anything about the CDC, just https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/infantandtoddlernutrition/vita... where they recommend Vitamin D for children under 2 years old, to prevent deficiency, but no where mention a recommendation for using it during a pandemic to keep your immune system healthy.

As for selenium deficiency and iodine deficiency, the research is slowly catching up:

> Certain micronutrients are seen as supportive for the treatment of and protection against viral diseases with some vitamins (A, B6, B12, C, D, and E) and essential trace elements (zinc, iron, selenium (Se), magnesium, or copper) discussed as particularly promising .

> However, the data base is very small and it is unknown whether certain vitamins or trace elements are deficient in patients with COVID-19, and whether the concentrations are related to disease severity or mortality risk.

> The collaborative research team from Germany hypothesised that Se may be of relevance for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and disease course of COVID-19 and that severe Se deficiency is prevalent among the patients and associates with poor survival odds in COVID-19.

As for turmeric, mentioned in relation to COVID a bannable offense on Youtube: It inhibits and suppresses Zika, Hepatitis, HIV, Noro, coxsackie, HBV, herpes, influenza, encephalitis, dengue, corona, and chikunya. It also suppresses cytokine signalling. But experts warn that it may interfere with the immune system when fighting COVID, and that it is neither a cure nor a treatment nor a helpful supplement. WHO lists it under hoaxes (except when discussing Chinese traditional medicine). And you are a bad person if you share this potential online, because you don't have a randomized trial to back up that it works against SARS-CoV-2.

MedicalNewsToday: In a rapid review of the evidence published on May 1, 2020, researchers from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom unequivocally conclude: “We found no clinical evidence on vitamin D in [the prevention or treatment of] COVID-19.” They also write that “[t]here was no evidence related to vitamin D deficiency predisposing to COVID-19, nor were there studies of supplementation for preventing or treating COVID-19.”

Potential Effect of Curcumin Treatment of COVID-19: Curcumin may have beneficial effects against COVID‐19 infection via its ability to modulate the various molecular targets that contribute to the attachment and internalization of SARS‐CoV‐2 in many organs, including the liver, cardiovascular system, and kidney. Curcumin could also modulate cellular signaling pathways such as inflammation, apoptosis, and RNA replication. Curcumin may also suppress pulmonary edema and fibrosis‐associated pathways in COVID‐19 infection.

WHO Fact or Fiction: There is no scientific evidence that lemon/turmeric prevents COVID-19.

Quoting the article (which I hope all here will read),

"[typically] more than 40 % of patients hospitalized because of COVID‐19 pneumonia developed ARDS of which more than 50 % ultimately died."

That's a 20% fatality rate.

Of the 76 patients in this study - regardless of vitamin D treatment - only 2 died, and the rest were eventually discharged. This is an outstanding result.

None (!) of the hospitalized patients died in the vitamin D / HCQ / AZ group.

I will say that the average age - 58 - is rather young. Only 19 out of 76 were over 60.

"All hospitalized patients received as best available therapy the same standard care, (per hospital protocol), of a combination of hydroxychloroquine (400 mg every 12 hours on the first day, and 200 mg every 12 hours for the following 5 days), azithromycin (500 mg orally for 5 days) and for patients with pneumonia and NEWS score≥5, a broad spectrum antibiotic (ceftriaxone2 g intravenously every 24 hours for 5 days) was added to hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin."

They have since discontinued HCQ because they felt that studies had shown that it was ineffective. We shall see.

As with AIDS, it's the cocktail of drugs that appears to matter. What is effective pre-hospitalization (i.e. prophylactic) is different from the best protocol post-admission. And that, in turn, differs from the best course of treatment in the ICU. The improvement in outcomes over the last few months is a result of experience:

https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/F... (pdf)

I’d delete the above comment if I could. The main point that you can get vitamin d from short exposure without sunburn is correct, but I was incorrect on the risk. But he fact I was wrong about uvb and melanoma also makes me think I may be incorrect on the risk of uva during periods without uvb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanoma#UV_radiation

Also there's some Joe Rogan-esque "just take the 5000 IU bro" even though 4000 is the recommended supplement upper bound. And devaboone warns against even using that much.