Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine? • Hacker News Board

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#61

Post by ip26 » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:18 PM UTC

thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #38

tomhoward wrote: post #22

All these articles about different individual nutrients start to feel like heath whack-a-mole. How about this: to be in the best possible position to beat any serious infection, you need to be in generally good health. That means having adequate levels of all essential nutrients - i.e., all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes etc that you get from maintaining a good diet and healthy lifestyle over the long t…

And, try to get those things from foods. It can't be said enough: Fruits and Vegetables have extremely high densities of all your minerals and vitamins. I've calculated all their densities here based on USDA nutritional info: https://kale.world/c All the results are normalized to 200 calories for easy comparison. When you get your vitamins/minerals from a pill, you run the risk of your body not absorbing it because t…

You & I can proffer this advice until we are blue in the face, but what people want is one magic pill that solves all their problems. So that's what they will keep trying.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#62

Post by dehrmann » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:27 PM UTC

bencollier49 wrote: post #29

watertom wrote: post #20

Since I was a child I’ve been a walking respiratory illness machine. Bronchitis, sinusitis, flu, pneumonia, common cold, etc. During “flu” season I was usually sick for the entire season with a rotating assortment of viral respiratory issues, this lasted until about 7 years ago. 8 years ago in September I started taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 and 180mg of K2 daily. I haven’t had a deputies illness since. My children…

Ironically there are papers suggesting that blood pressure and cholesterol medication is bad for people if they get Covid.

How is that ironic? The doctor's recommendation sounded like it was pre-covid, or just their standard recommendation.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#63

Post by dehrmann » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:31 PM UTC

trevorkoob wrote: post #43

Did my masters on Vitamin D - It is very difficult to extract CLINICALLY RELEVANT information from retrospective epidemiological studies. However, there a a few things that are clear: 1. Calcium absorption from the intestine increases with vitamin D supplementation dose up to around 8-10,000 IU D3 daily. 2. 15 minutes of full body exposure in noon sun is equivalent to a dose of ~20,000 IU D3 3. There are few cases of…

When my vitamin D levels tested a little low, I asked my doctor about it, and he said studies don't show any benefit for supplementing vitamin D deficiencies that are asymptomatic. At the time, I looked up the study, though I can't seem to find it now.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#64

Post by DiffEq » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:32 PM UTC

thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #38

tomhoward wrote: post #22

All these articles about different individual nutrients start to feel like heath whack-a-mole. How about this: to be in the best possible position to beat any serious infection, you need to be in generally good health. That means having adequate levels of all essential nutrients - i.e., all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes etc that you get from maintaining a good diet and healthy lifestyle over the long t…

And, try to get those things from foods. It can't be said enough: Fruits and Vegetables have extremely high densities of all your minerals and vitamins. I've calculated all their densities here based on USDA nutritional info: https://kale.world/c All the results are normalized to 200 calories for easy comparison. When you get your vitamins/minerals from a pill, you run the risk of your body not absorbing it because t…

That is a great little site you made. Thanks.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#65

Post by prox » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

trevorkoob wrote: post #43

Did my masters on Vitamin D - It is very difficult to extract CLINICALLY RELEVANT information from retrospective epidemiological studies. However, there a a few things that are clear: 1. Calcium absorption from the intestine increases with vitamin D supplementation dose up to around 8-10,000 IU D3 daily. 2. 15 minutes of full body exposure in noon sun is equivalent to a dose of ~20,000 IU D3 3. There are few cases of…

Do you know what would the baseline vitamine D intake been for our ancient (read : outdoor lifestyle) ancestors?

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#66

Post by wenc » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

forgot_user1234 wrote: post #31

How can you do science for long term effects? where RCTs are not possible.

RCTs are not the only way to obtain evidence of causality.

In causal inference, limited causal claims can be made through observational studies (where no control is done), such as retrospective natural experiments [1]. These methods are of course limited by assumptions and by how closely they match reality.

Note: while a controlled experiment is the gold standard, it is not always feasible or necessary. We don't need to do RCTs on parachutes to prove their efficacy for instance. [2]

--

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_experiment

[2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/volunteers-jumped...

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#67

Post by StavrosK » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:37 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #40

StavrosK wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you take less D3 daily to prevent calcification? 10k IU sounds like a large amount, no?

As the article says, D works with other vitamins to do a lot of things. It works with K to help calcium get into your bones. Otherwise you can absorb it and it can hang around in places it's not really supposed to, and that turns out to not be a good thing. You're probably better off with D + K (if you need it) than trying to skimp on D. (I have celiac [1], and I had to learn about this connection the hard way. The h…

I see, thank you. I'm wondering whether I should supplement D myself, but I live in a sunny country. I should get some blood tests to check first, I guess.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#68

Post by AlexanderNull » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #63

trevorkoob wrote: post #43

Did my masters on Vitamin D - It is very difficult to extract CLINICALLY RELEVANT information from retrospective epidemiological studies. However, there a a few things that are clear: 1. Calcium absorption from the intestine increases with vitamin D supplementation dose up to around 8-10,000 IU D3 daily. 2. 15 minutes of full body exposure in noon sun is equivalent to a dose of ~20,000 IU D3 3. There are few cases of…

When my vitamin D levels tested a little low, I asked my doctor about it, and he said studies don't show any benefit for supplementing vitamin D deficiencies that are asymptomatic. At the time, I looked up the study, though I can't seem to find it now.

The studies I've seen relaying the same sentiment of no appreciable benefit only looked at a single outcome, normally bone density or bone fracture occurrence. Vitamin D levels affect expression of almost 300 different genes in humans (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3604145/) so looking at a single outcome to gauge the entire efficacy of that vitamin is absurd and disappointing that so many other doctors push their narrow minded interpretations of those same limited studies.

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#69

Post by Abishek_Muthian » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:40 PM UTC

trevorkoob wrote: post #43

Did my masters on Vitamin D - It is very difficult to extract CLINICALLY RELEVANT information from retrospective epidemiological studies. However, there a a few things that are clear: 1. Calcium absorption from the intestine increases with vitamin D supplementation dose up to around 8-10,000 IU D3 daily. 2. 15 minutes of full body exposure in noon sun is equivalent to a dose of ~20,000 IU D3 3. There are few cases of…

>this excludes people with kidney disorders.

Can increased calcium absorption lead to kidney disorders?

This is my biggest worry when taking Vitamin D3 supplements, I have Vitamin D deficiency but when I take supplements it quickly reaches to toxicity levels (> 80 ng/mL) and so I have the revert to monthly supplement of 60,000 IU of Cholecalciferol.

PSA: I'm a dwarf, possibly Achondroplasia, but during childhood (4 - 15years) I wasn't categorised as such and my bone troubles were always attributed to Vitamin D deficiency. After age 17, I didn't have much of bone problems and so I didn't follow up on my Vitamin D deficiency.

Fast forward to age 32, I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis among other cerebral spinal fractures risking becoming quadriplegic[1]. So, if you have bone problems due to Vitamin D deficiency, please follow it up regularly, it's likely going to be life-long but taking proper supplements is better than a fracture. Also visiting a good endocrinologist to get to the root of Vitamin D problems is recommended.

[1]https://abishekmuthian.com/i-was-told-i-would-become-quadrip...

Re: Vitamin D: the New Covid-19 Chloroquine?

#70

Post by neuronic » Fri, May 29, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

tomtomistaken wrote: post #44

watertom wrote: post #20

Since I was a child I’ve been a walking respiratory illness machine. Bronchitis, sinusitis, flu, pneumonia, common cold, etc. During “flu” season I was usually sick for the entire season with a rotating assortment of viral respiratory issues, this lasted until about 7 years ago. 8 years ago in September I started taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 and 180mg of K2 daily. I haven’t had a deputies illness since. My children…

I had anxiety attacks and back pain for years. Maybe it’s just a weird and strong placebo effect, but after starting to take vitamin D these things were simply gone.

My allergies started to dramatically improve after taking 8-10k IU vitamin D daily. This isnt medical evidence and may be pure luck but I am just adding to the anecdotes.