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

Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

medrxiv.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 266 posts

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#21

Post by nkozyra »

Spooky23 wrote: post #8

Was this known early on about COVID? Early on in the lockdown I noticed that these vitamins were among the kind of weird items completely cleared out of stores. People were very selective... initially all FHD laptops and Chromebooks were gone, along with power strips, ibuprofen, hair clippers, etc.

Vitamin D has been thrown around a lot from the get-go, probably because of its value against other forms of coronavirus including SARS and viral infection in general. My layman's understanding is that supplementation hasn't shown to be effective, meaning D deficiency may be a co-indicator.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7189189/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3308600/#:~:tex....

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#22

Post by arghzzz »

barbegal wrote: post #15

The methodology mentions nothing about randomization so its unclear if there was any selection bias here. If you look a table 2, the control group was on average 6 years older and had more co-morbidities. This suggests that there was some selection bias and that other undocumented factors could have greatly affected this experiment. Doing multi-variate analysis with such a small sample size gives rise to huge uncerta…

However, taking 3 vitamins is almost entirely harmless.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#23

Post by MichaelApproved »

Foivos wrote: post #3
ageitgey wrote: post #2

N=43 (17 given vitamins vs 26 not) Highlights: "Significantly fewer DMB patients than controls required initiation of oxygen therapy subsequently throughout their hospitalization (17.6% vs 61.5%, P=0.006)." "DMB combination in older COVID-19 patients was associated with a significant reduction in proportion of patients with clinical deterioration requiring oxygen support and/or intensive care support. This study supp…

> Since taking a basic multi-vitamin is good anyway.... Could you elaborate on that? I thought that taking vitamin supplements without a recommendation from a doctor is just a way to have very expensive piss. Most of the things that get in, are removed from the body without being absorbed.

One issue with vitamin is they don’t get absorbed well without certain foods. Worse yet, some foods could even block absorption.

Calcium absorption is one of the trickier vitamins to get tight.

If you’re taking vitamins specifically because you’re deficient, make sure you’re eating complimentary foods with them.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#24

Post by partyboat1586 »

Foivos wrote: post #3
ageitgey wrote: post #2

N=43 (17 given vitamins vs 26 not) Highlights: "Significantly fewer DMB patients than controls required initiation of oxygen therapy subsequently throughout their hospitalization (17.6% vs 61.5%, P=0.006)." "DMB combination in older COVID-19 patients was associated with a significant reduction in proportion of patients with clinical deterioration requiring oxygen support and/or intensive care support. This study supp…

> Since taking a basic multi-vitamin is good anyway.... Could you elaborate on that? I thought that taking vitamin supplements without a recommendation from a doctor is just a way to have very expensive piss. Most of the things that get in, are removed from the body without being absorbed.

Most people are deficient in one vitamin or another. Take magnesium as an example, 50% of people in the US are deficient[0]. Get your blood work done and get targeted supplements.

[0]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5786912/

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#25

Post by PeterStuer »

Spooky23 wrote: post #8

Was this known early on about COVID? Early on in the lockdown I noticed that these vitamins were among the kind of weird items completely cleared out of stores. People were very selective... initially all FHD laptops and Chromebooks were gone, along with power strips, ibuprofen, hair clippers, etc.

Vitamin D's potential was the first to become widely publicized in early February, followed closely by Zinc.

I haven't heard much about B12 or magnesium effectiveness, as I must admit being out of contact, but they are popular supplements even in non covid times.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#26

Post by RL_Quine »

arghzzz wrote: post #22
barbegal wrote: post #15

The methodology mentions nothing about randomization so its unclear if there was any selection bias here. If you look a table 2, the control group was on average 6 years older and had more co-morbidities. This suggests that there was some selection bias and that other undocumented factors could have greatly affected this experiment. Doing multi-variate analysis with such a small sample size gives rise to huge uncerta…

However, taking 3 vitamins is almost entirely harmless.

Many are toxic (vitamin D included) in unsuitable amounts, that’s probably too strong of a statement.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#27

Post by naasking »

Spooky23 wrote: post #8

Was this known early on about COVID? Early on in the lockdown I noticed that these vitamins were among the kind of weird items completely cleared out of stores. People were very selective... initially all FHD laptops and Chromebooks were gone, along with power strips, ibuprofen, hair clippers, etc.

> Was this known early on about COVID?

Metanalyses have shown that Vitamin D supplementation is associated with a reduction in the rate of upper respiratory tract infections and its severity.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#28

Post by partyboat1586 »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #13
Foivos wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since taking a basic multi-vitamin is good anyway.... Could you elaborate on that? I thought that taking vitamin supplements without a recommendation from a doctor is just a way to have very expensive piss. Most of the things that get in, are removed from the body without being absorbed.

I agree, you don’t need a supplement. I get regular checkups. I’ve never had a deficiency in any vitamin except D.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common especially in people who spend their daytime hours inside and also in dark skinned people living in northern latitudes.

In the UK doctors recommend everyone takes a vitamin D supplement in the winter.

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#29

Post by Nursie »

arghzzz wrote: post #22
barbegal wrote: post #15

The methodology mentions nothing about randomization so its unclear if there was any selection bias here. If you look a table 2, the control group was on average 6 years older and had more co-morbidities. This suggests that there was some selection bias and that other undocumented factors could have greatly affected this experiment. Doing multi-variate analysis with such a small sample size gives rise to huge uncerta…

However, taking 3 vitamins is almost entirely harmless.

Many things are almost entirely harmless, but before recommending you do them anyway, you probably want to look at whether there's any point.

Turning round in a circle three times before you leave the house is almost entirely harmless, and there's no evidence that doesn't stop you getting coronavirus...

Re: Study of the effect of Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12 on Covid-19 patients

#30

Post by rmelhem »

just a personal note, I had many many respiratory tract problems - tonsillitis, flu, cold, at least 3 times a year. I always thought it was something natural, given the seasonality of these diseases, especially in winter. but after a routine blood test, my doctor prescribed vitamin D because mine was way below recommended. since 2017, when i started taking vitamin D supplementation, only a mild flu is what I had in 3 years, so to me that article is no surprise, of course in a personal experience level.
Post reply on HN