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

Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 102 posts

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#31

Post by lowmagnet »

kstrauser wrote: post #27
accrual wrote: post #2

Nice to see more benefits of Vitamin D. Highly recommend the supplement for tech workers who spend a lot of time indoors. I take 125mcg/5000IU a day when I wake up and it's subtle, but I just feel a little better with it. Sports Research is a good brand (not affiliated). Nothing better than getting some real sun though, especially in the morning.

Also, ask your doctor to get yours tested! A couple years ago, my D was on the low end (31.7ng/mL; 30-100 is normal). I've been taking 5000IU of D3 since then, and a lab last month had me at 59.1. That seems to be about the perfect dose for me, and it's dirt cheap.

I just take D3 50K a week, what a doctor once recommended when I was tested and found almost with something like 6 ng/dL of D in my system.

BTW, did they tell you to back off or cut your dose? at 59 ng/mL you're in the danger zone.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#32

Post by pigeonhole123 »

globular-toast wrote: post #26
cheald wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people in the first world are heavily deficient in vitamin D, and deficiency is linked to a whole host of health issues and vulnerabilities. It's dirt cheap and essentially completely safe below toxicity levels (which are quite difficult to hit - I take 10,000 IU daily, and even with that my bloodwork shows me in the lower quartile of the normal range). Its metabolite is a steroidal hormone, so it's pretty o…

That seems like far too much, especially if you ever go outside. In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. Any more than that is only if you are actually deficient. It seems really hard to get clear answers on it, though. People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange. It makes me think it's being stored somewhere that isn't your blood. It's fat-soluble after a…

He is actually deficient, and 10k IU is not that unusual.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#33

Post by thenerdhead »

I see research on essential vitamins all the time on HN. It really makes you think. There's cohorts who will debunk the studies based on methodology or glaring flaws. There's cohorts who will provide anecdotal evidence in support. There's even cohorts who will bring up a history lesson/"conspiracy" we all forgot about.

It really makes you wonder about essential vitamins though. There's so many of these types of studies that continue to show benefits of getting the right amount of vitamin D, but there's equally enough noise to tell you that you don't need it.

But for countries like America, experts continue to weigh in that we don't get enough essential vitamins and minerals through our diets, so wouldn't it just be common sense that many people are deficient and therefore should supplement?

Wasn't this the entire controversy of Pauling for example when he pushed Vitamin C? That the RDA amounts are not enough and should be highly personalized?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56068/table/summarytab... (Recommendations)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-020-0558-y (Deficiency Worldwide)

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#34

Post by lowmagnet »

experimenting wrote: post #23
mistrial9 wrote: post #6

I was told recently that US Doctors have lost their license over this topic; no idea if that is true.

For a long time, the Mayo Clinic claimed vitamin D supplementation to combat SARS infections had no scientific proof and was possibly dangerous. If such an authoritative source claims pseudo science and danger, your annecdote could very well be true.

Low vitamin D reduces correct responses by the immune system, and contributes to autoimmune disorders and results in higher possibility of infection.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#35

Post by cheald »

globular-toast wrote: post #26
cheald wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people in the first world are heavily deficient in vitamin D, and deficiency is linked to a whole host of health issues and vulnerabilities. It's dirt cheap and essentially completely safe below toxicity levels (which are quite difficult to hit - I take 10,000 IU daily, and even with that my bloodwork shows me in the lower quartile of the normal range). Its metabolite is a steroidal hormone, so it's pretty o…

That seems like far too much, especially if you ever go outside. In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. Any more than that is only if you are actually deficient. It seems really hard to get clear answers on it, though. People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange. It makes me think it's being stored somewhere that isn't your blood. It's fat-soluble after a…

I get bloodwork done twice annually, so I have a very accurate idea of what my levels are. The dosage is the recommendation from my doctor based on my bloodwork. The goal isn't just staving off seasonal affective disorder, but actually trying to get me roughly into the middle of the ideal range because of its myriad health benefits.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#36

Post by mandmandam »

thenerdhead wrote: post #33

I see research on essential vitamins all the time on HN. It really makes you think. There's cohorts who will debunk the studies based on methodology or glaring flaws. There's cohorts who will provide anecdotal evidence in support. There's even cohorts who will bring up a history lesson/"conspiracy" we all forgot about. It really makes you wonder about essential vitamins though. There's so many of these types of studi…

I think it's absolutely bonkers - it really blows me away - that we have such debate on the effects of single molecules, studied for untold millions of human hours.

And yet many people think we can improve on nature; tinkering and toying with vastly more complex machinery and life, that we barely understand.

We are still discovering entire structures in the human body, ffs, yet are seemingly happy to allow vast monocultures of corporate and for-profit GM crops; 'trusting the science'.

The lies are as thin as our topsoil's gonna be soon. I love the idea of scientific progress, and understanding things, but this attitute of 'trust the men in white coats with everything even though we don't understand Vitamin C or D all that well' is truly mind-boggling.

*: I assume the people down-voting this think I'm talking smack on science - read again. I'm talking about scientism, and hubris, and appeals to authority. Which if you were paying any attention whatsoever the last 3 years you ought to know are big problems right now.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#37

Post by JumpCrisscross »

mandmandam wrote: post #36
thenerdhead wrote: post #33

I see research on essential vitamins all the time on HN. It really makes you think. There's cohorts who will debunk the studies based on methodology or glaring flaws. There's cohorts who will provide anecdotal evidence in support. There's even cohorts who will bring up a history lesson/"conspiracy" we all forgot about. It really makes you wonder about essential vitamins though. There's so many of these types of studi…

I think it's absolutely bonkers - it really blows me away - that we have such debate on the effects of single molecules, studied for untold millions of human hours. And yet many people think we can improve on nature; tinkering and toying with vastly more complex machinery and life, that we barely understand. We are still discovering entire structures in the human body, ffs, yet are seemingly happy to allow vast monoc…

> we have such debate on the effects of single molecules

Most complex systems have simple limiters, almost by definition of the latter. You don’t need to solve fluid dynamics and combustion physics to understand that more air through a carburettor causes an internal combustion engine to run faster.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#38

Post by garciasn »

lowmagnet wrote: post #28
ericmcer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah… doctors recommend supplementing vitamin D if you don’t get much sun. This almost feels comedic.

Doctors recommend supplementing vitamin D if you have a measured deficiency. Most people naturally settle to 20 ng/mL or higher, and just incidental exposure, or eating certain foods can help you either absorb or synthesize it. There are also people, like me, who no matter what, we can't make as much vitamin D for whatever cluster of genetic factors causes that. Some of us are always tired unless we take 50,000 IU of…

That’s over double the dose considered “safe”. Obviously, I’m not suggesting you do otherwise; it’s just way outside the bounds of what most adults would do unless directed to by their physician.

Re: Regular use of Vitamin D supplement is associated with fewer melanoma cases

#40

Post by DoesntMatter22 »

krona wrote: post #20
docflabby wrote: post #3

People who avoid the sun more likely to take vitamin D supplements?

I think just as likely is the general problem of people who take supplements being generally more conscientious and less likely to engage in risky behaviours (e.g. wearing sunscreen in summer)

Or they are supplementing because they don't get much sun to begin with
Post reply on HN