Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

sciencedirect.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 112 posts

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#11

Post by vinay427 »

hannob wrote: post #9
pulse7 wrote: post #2

I am curious to know why countries didn't buy large quantities of vitamin D and distribute them to all people? Wouldn't that be cheaper and more effective than complete lockdowns, full hospitals, etc.?

You're under the absurd illusion that a substance with some weak evidence (that may be just statistical noise and bad interpretation of data) would have a significant effect. If there's an effect of vitamin D it's likely very small.

With respect, and this is coming from just another measly user so take it with a grain of salt and feel free to disagree: I think your comment would be a lot more effective (and just as meaningful) without such an inflammatory tone in the first sentence. I think there are times and places to be more forceful, but an initial reply to a question presumed to be in good faith probably isn't one of them.

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#12

Post by chrisco255 »

hannob wrote: post #9
pulse7 wrote: post #2

I am curious to know why countries didn't buy large quantities of vitamin D and distribute them to all people? Wouldn't that be cheaper and more effective than complete lockdowns, full hospitals, etc.?

You're under the absurd illusion that a substance with some weak evidence (that may be just statistical noise and bad interpretation of data) would have a significant effect. If there's an effect of vitamin D it's likely very small.

There's actually a couple dozen studies on Vitamin D's effects on Covid-19: https://c19vitamind.com/

Some are retrospectives some are randomized clinical trials.

Vitamin D has a major effect on the immune system that is well documented.

OP is right. Even if supplementation reduced the death rate by only 25%, the cost-benefit analysis says that it would absolutely have made sense for countries to issue free Vitamin D and promote its use.

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#13

Post by floatingatoll »

pulse7 wrote: post #2

I am curious to know why countries didn't buy large quantities of vitamin D and distribute them to all people? Wouldn't that be cheaper and more effective than complete lockdowns, full hospitals, etc.?

In a similar instance where one country (the United States) realized that distributing a specific medicine widely to all citizens would vastly improve public health, they discovered that — just as with anti-vaxxers/maskers — people will attribute medical issues that are outside of their control and have no known cause to something that is in their control, whether or not it's related.

"In the past five years, 74 cities have voted to remove fluoride from their drinking water, despite thousands of studies showing it prevents cavities." (2018)

So if the United States government attempted to distribute vitamin D to all people, a vocal minority of those people would respond "over my dead body" and immediately begin a nationwide campaign to prevent that distribution, including requesting emergency court orders to stop it. The US governments aren't typically what I would call "strong of will", and often fold on proven public health steps (such as masks) without trying to put up a fight.

Perhaps it's different in other countries?

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#14

Post by 13415 »

pulse7 wrote: post #2

I am curious to know why countries didn't buy large quantities of vitamin D and distribute them to all people? Wouldn't that be cheaper and more effective than complete lockdowns, full hospitals, etc.?

Vitamin D can be bought without prescription and there is currently no shortage, so why should a country (government) distribute it? Anyone who wants some can buy some. Handing out free Vitamin D is like handing out free gym passes. It's not bad, but also not really a government's responsibility except for cases when people would benefit a lot but could not afford it at all.

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#15

Post by Hallucinaut »

13415 wrote: post #14
pulse7 wrote: post #2

I am curious to know why countries didn't buy large quantities of vitamin D and distribute them to all people? Wouldn't that be cheaper and more effective than complete lockdowns, full hospitals, etc.?

Vitamin D can be bought without prescription and there is currently no shortage, so why should a country (government) distribute it? Anyone who wants some can buy some. Handing out free Vitamin D is like handing out free gym passes. It's not bad, but also not really a government's responsibility except for cases when people would benefit a lot but could not afford it at all.

Same reason governments filter the water or remove lead from paint; just because knowledge is available doesn't mean all citizens can and will act on it, and sometimes lowering the barrier is all that's needed.

Moreover, I'd argue older generations in particular are more susceptible to believing what the doctor says. Just having the research available and the vitamins on the shelf isn't going to have nearly the same uptake as a centralised push.

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#17

Post by magnetar »

Get more Sunlight if possible to get Vitamin D produced by your body. Unfortunately not enough sunlight in Northern latitudes at this time. Vitamin D + Fat should increase Testosterone. Maybe Testosterone is what helps but they don't want to communicate it like that. I am not expert, doctor, scientist nor politician.

Re: Vitamin D improves survival in Covid-19 elderly patients

#20

Post by LinuxBender »

gdubs wrote: post #10

People who know more about this than I do: how much do we think the lack of sunlight in the winter (among other factors) contributes to the severity spikes associated with the cold season? I know the other factors: recirculated indoor air, humidity, etc.

Another big factor is stomach acid. As we age, our stomach acid gets exponentially weaker. This reduces absorption of nutrients and also minimizes the ability to destroy pathogens (not related to covid, just being complete). This becomes a circular problem, as the weaker stomach ph means less B1/zinc absorbed from all sources and less ability to produce stomach acid. This is why elderly often consume digestive enzymes or ACV to assist with digestion.
Post reply on HN