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Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

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Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#211

Post by [deleted] »

tehjoker wrote: post #209
russfink wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a technical writing style perspective, the thing going against this paper is the folksy way of writing. It also includes things called weasel words, such as saying very young doctor, versus young doctor, or even just doctor. The results are compelling, and I suppose it would not hurt to take a prophylaxis of vitamin D (5,000 units per the article?) as compared to a prophylaxis of something else, such as hydroxyc…

People in my doctor friend's hospital taking HCQ got arrhythmias at a higher rate and often didn't get better. It is not a miracle cure and is quite dangerous in the alleged "treatment ranges". I am a bit stunned that people are still going on about HCQ after all this time and the many trials. I feel this comment by a virologist is the key to understanding why it got so hyped and is not working: https://www.sciencedi…

[deleted]

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#212

Post by graeme »

dang wrote: post #173
devaboone wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people can tolerate Vitamin D levels above 50, so I wouldn't set that as an absolute cutoff - a Vitamin D in the 50s is good for many people, but I definitely don't want to see it above 70. Taking a higher dose for a short period of time is completely acceptable, as long as it doesn't become something that you stay on for years. It is really hard, if not impossible, to get toxic levels of Vitamin D solely from t…

Sorry about the rate limiting! That's a new-account issue, and I hate that it affects perfectly legit new accounts. I've switched that off now, so she can post freely. If you'd like, we can transfer your comments beginning "From devaboone" to her username. (Edit: done now, by permission via email. The parent comment was originally posted by conorh.) (All: when you see issues like this affecting HN threads and feel li…

Some of comments show up on the thread but not necessarily on her comment history.

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#213

Post by ineedasername »

devaboone wrote: post #143
wpasc wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "wacky" levels? I can't tell from your comment if that means high or low. Asking as a Vitamin D supplement user who uses 2-3k IU a day

Hi, I'm the wife. High dose Vitamin D can cause elevated calcium levels (meaning over 10.0 mg/dl for adults over 40, it can be a little higher for younger adults). I usually don't see that occur with doses at 2-3 K IU daily. You can also check your Vitamin D 25-OH levels (the level that will be done if you just get a standard "Vitamin D level") and these should be in a reasonable range. What constitutes reasonable ma…

Can you expand on what constitutes the "toxic" aspect of this, i.e., the danger, symptoms, consequences?

Thanks for coming here to share your expertise!

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#214

Post by selectodude »

sachdevap wrote: post #182
ColanR wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the response. I'm curious what your wife thinks about this article [0], mentioned elsewhere in this discussion. It makes the case that the current RDA for Vitamin D is based on a statistical error, and that the recommended dose should be closer to 8000 IU for young adults. [0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28768407/

FYI, that is the wife/doctor's account you replied to.

dang switched a lot of the comments to her personal username after the fact.

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#215

Post by plus »

devaboone wrote: post #143
wpasc wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "wacky" levels? I can't tell from your comment if that means high or low. Asking as a Vitamin D supplement user who uses 2-3k IU a day

Hi, I'm the wife. High dose Vitamin D can cause elevated calcium levels (meaning over 10.0 mg/dl for adults over 40, it can be a little higher for younger adults). I usually don't see that occur with doses at 2-3 K IU daily. You can also check your Vitamin D 25-OH levels (the level that will be done if you just get a standard "Vitamin D level") and these should be in a reasonable range. What constitutes reasonable ma…

This is entirely anecdotal, and I don't have an expert's opinion on this, but I believe I was suffering from Vitamin D toxicity. I had been taking 5000 IU/125 mcg of Vitamin D3 daily for several years, and one day I started experiencing painful and distressing heart palpitations. They persisted on and off for months, until at one point near the beginning of quarantine I ran out of Vitamin D supplements. I went a few weeks before buying more, and during this time I didn't have any heart palpitations, though I hadn't really noticed until after I started taking Vitamin D again, at which point my heart palpitations restarted immediately. I stopped taking Vitamin D and haven't had any heart palpitations since (several months now). My working hypothesis is that the Vitamin D supplements were causing heightened blood calcium levels, which was messing with my heart.

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#216

Post by selectodude »

elcritch wrote: post #188
devaboone wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some very vocal people who argue that the risk of toxicity is very low. The studies aren't great. But for most people, taking a moderate dose of Vitamin D will be safe. Unfortunately, I have treated many patients who come to me with high calcium levels due to taking Vitamin D. They do not have parathyroid disease (I have treated thousands of patients with parathyroid disease). They have simply been taking h…

It makes sense many doctors, especially general practitioners, would forget or not know about the Vitamin D/Calcium link. However, wouldn't a doctor prescribing a large dose of Vitamin D take at least yearly standard set of blood tests too that would include calcium levels? Then again, that's assuming there's a fairly standard set of blood tests to check for imbalances of this kind. Also, it seems odd there isn't a s…

A large dose of vitamin D may not show up in the bloodwork for years if the patient keeps a fatty enough diet.

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#218

Post by omilu »

devaboone wrote: post #143
wpasc wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "wacky" levels? I can't tell from your comment if that means high or low. Asking as a Vitamin D supplement user who uses 2-3k IU a day

Hi, I'm the wife. High dose Vitamin D can cause elevated calcium levels (meaning over 10.0 mg/dl for adults over 40, it can be a little higher for younger adults). I usually don't see that occur with doses at 2-3 K IU daily. You can also check your Vitamin D 25-OH levels (the level that will be done if you just get a standard "Vitamin D level") and these should be in a reasonable range. What constitutes reasonable ma…

i thought calcium was good for you. How is vitamin d causing high levels of calcium toxic?

Re: Vitamin D deficiency and Covid-19 mortality [pdf]

#219

Post by gvjddbnvdrbv »

graeme wrote: post #43
sharpneli wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Finland we put Vitamin D in milk that’s sold on normal shops. And taking a supplement is heavily recommended. Though this is mostly because for 6 months of a year one simply cannot get it the natural way (too cold and sun is too low). And thanks to this we don’t have much deficiency, long time ago we used to have. Not saying it means it would help with covid. But the supplements definitely help with deficiency in…

You had a very limited coronavirus outbreak it seems. Does Norway have the same vitamin D supplementation policies? Their outbreak was similar in size to Finland’s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Finland Edit: Interestingly, the source pdf notes the nordic countries have higher D3 levels than Mediterranean countries. And speculates this may help explain lower incidence up north. ———— The researche…

Norwegians worship the sun when it is present and they drink more milk as adults than in other non-Nordic countries. The milk is vitamin D supplemented. Sunbeds have become unpopular recently (3 years ago there were 3 tanning salons in walking distance of me now there are none).

The reasons that the outbreak has been minimal so far here are more complex though. Norwegians natually socially distance. The joke goes, "I am glad the lockdown is over and we can go back to the usual 5 meters - having to stand 1 meter from people was too close". Basically avoiding people for a few weeks was quite easy for many Norwegians. Younger ones tend to live in one bed flats rather than flat shares. Young people don't visit their parents and grandparents as much as they probably should. Also people buy into society and trust their government here. The PM announced a crisis and most people followed the guidelines for several weeks. Compliance dropped after a few weeks but it was clearly sufficient to break the infection chains.

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