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Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

vitamindforall.org

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Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#31

Post by dijksterhuis »

Tagbert wrote: post #24
incrudible wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have doubts about some of these "mask wearing" studies too. I'm still wearing a mask. I'm still taking Vitamin D. These are low-risk interventions. I'm not going to wait for some p value to get smaller to take action.

Since most mask studies are done in high/extended exposure environments like hospitals, they are not the best model for most people’s use. This summer, the state of Kansas did an (inadvertent) infield experiment where some counties implemented mask mandates and other counties did not. After a few week, the non-mask mandate counties infection rates increased rapidly. The mask mandate counties’ infection rate increased…

Link to a video presenting the findings of a study from the University of Kansas on this "inadvertent infield experiment"

https://mediahub.ku.edu/media/Masks/1_49bb9aid?campaign_id=1...

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#33

Post by JoeAltmaier »

irq11 wrote: post #30
jiofih wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cases are skyrocketing And comments like yours are one of the reasons. The study shows that masks do little to protect the wearer - which is kind of obvious as it’s not going to filter incoming air very efficiently, that has never been the purpose of surgical masks. They don’t protect against airborne pathogens and every medical professional knows it. You need a crítica mass for masks to start reducing transmission…

> Mask use is nowhere near what it should have been All available evidence shows that you’re wrong. Self-reported mask usage rates are over 90%, nationwide. Moreover, many of the places with the highest compliance rates (e.g. Los Angeles) have the fastest-growing case counts: https://delphi.cmu.edu/covidcast/?date=20201018&signalType=v... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/business... https://www.cdc…

Because population density and culture are the other factors. In most cases, combined with limiting large groups and reducing the frequency of meetings, it is doing what it is intended to do - reduce the R0 factor. Even in LA.

Every Internet pundit who can take one number and divide by another, announces they have proven something or other. Give it a rest.

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#35

Post by irq11 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #33
irq11 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mask use is nowhere near what it should have been All available evidence shows that you’re wrong. Self-reported mask usage rates are over 90%, nationwide. Moreover, many of the places with the highest compliance rates (e.g. Los Angeles) have the fastest-growing case counts: https://delphi.cmu.edu/covidcast/?date=20201018&signalType=v... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/business... https://www.cdc…

Because population density and culture are the other factors. In most cases, combined with limiting large groups and reducing the frequency of meetings, it is doing what it is intended to do - reduce the R0 factor. Even in LA. Every Internet pundit who can take one number and divide by another, announces they have proven something or other. Give it a rest.

There’s always an excuse, but there’s never any data backing your claims.

Provide even a single shred of evidence that masks affect the R0 of the virus in the real world.

Modeling studies and correlations observed in April don’t count: most of the papers published this year looked at areas where case counts subsequently skyrocketed in the fall. My personal favorite is the mask study from Jena, Germany in the spring, which only made it into a journal right as cases were reaching an all-time high in the same area:

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/12/02/2015954117

https://gesundheit.jena.de/en/coronavirus

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#37

Post by pjscott »

jupiter90000 wrote: post #5

Worth a read, more in depth analysis of some of these studies: https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2020/11/17/mathematical-an...

And here is a point-by-point response from the authors of the paper it criticizes, which I found convincing:

http://compbio.mit.edu/calcifediol/Response_to_Pachter_criti...

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#38

Post by phkahler »

neom wrote: post #11
tmcw wrote: post #4

Hacker news is fixated on the Vitamin D hypothesis. 142 posts in the last year, many hitting the front page.

It could also be that many of us have seen studies over the past few years about the general issues with Vitamin D deficiencies, so, in addition to the recent studies; it doesn't seem like such a leap that something as simple as increasing Vitamin D could benefit covid protection/recovery.

Right. We know most people have lower levels in winter. There is reason to believe it helps. There is little reason to think it may harm - particularly in light of the seasonal deficiency. Why would anyone not think it's worth trying? I've been wondering why the CDC hasn't recommended it yet.

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#39

Post by irq11 »

Tagbert wrote: post #24
incrudible wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have doubts about some of these "mask wearing" studies too. I'm still wearing a mask. I'm still taking Vitamin D. These are low-risk interventions. I'm not going to wait for some p value to get smaller to take action.

Since most mask studies are done in high/extended exposure environments like hospitals, they are not the best model for most people’s use. This summer, the state of Kansas did an (inadvertent) infield experiment where some counties implemented mask mandates and other counties did not. After a few week, the non-mask mandate counties infection rates increased rapidly. The mask mandate counties’ infection rate increased…

You should look more deeply into that Kansas study. They cherry-picked their data in a way that is extremely dubious:

https://mobile.twitter.com/ianmsc/status/1332407421151576064...

Turns out that if you pick slightly different start and end dates, you can get dramatically different results.

Even if you think there’s a justification for it, plotting the counties’ data next to each other shows that they’re torturing the data. That is a perfect example of the horrible, flawed methodology that has been getting published all year.

Re: Over 100 Scientists and Doctors Call for Increased Vitamin D to Combat Covid-19

#40

Post by AshWolfy »

irq11 wrote: post #22
kpfleger wrote: post #2

185 experts. Over 100 medical doctors. Roughly 100 professors, including many of the most respected vitamin D experts in the world---check out the list of names and qualifications yourself. Please read the link before posting about correlation or other opinions on the topic. The point is to note the aggregate credibility of the backers here. This is analogous to the open letter done for face masks last spring.

The open letter for face masks is a great example for why this kind of thing is dubious. All prior high-quality evidence disputed the claim: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/specia... The subsequent evidence of real-world effectiveness isn’t great: cases are skyrocketing around the northern hemisphere, and mask mandates aren’t making a difference. The only randomized controlled trial ever conduct…

Science is built on consensus

Also the fact that mask mandates are poorly enforced, or that masks arent a replacement for other forms of prevention, or that some materials dont offer the same level of prevention dont change the fact that masks work

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