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Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

mdpi.com

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Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#91

Post by dimensi0nal »

nucleardog wrote: post #86
ryandvm wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've often wondered if it would be economically feasible for blood donation banks to do this as a perk/incentive for giving blood. Every 6 months or so, you donate blood and as part of the process you get run-of-the-mill bloodwork report emailed to you a few days later. You'd have to make sure you weren't creating an incentive for sick people to donate blood just for the lab work, but otherwise it seems like it would…

Seems like that could easily work places with universal healthcare. Very little incentive to donate for free lab work when any medically necessary lab work would be done for free anyway. And second that, would happily donate in exchange for curiousity-fulfilling bloodwork.

The obstacle isn’t the cost of labs, it’s the gatekeeping. Having to go to the doctor for basic bloodwork is still inconvenient even if it’s free.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#92

Post by 3gg »

foota wrote: post #80
mensetmanusman wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is an amazing idea. I would definitely be more incentivized to give blood if it gave me a run down of various nutrients just from a curiosity point of view. E.g. what are my selenium levels compared to the general population?

Depends, how much browser integration testing are you doing?

This was a good joke; good work must be recognized.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#93

Post by zepto »

wyldfire wrote: post #63
LennyWhiteJr wrote: post #12

In case you live in a northern climate and want to catch some rays through a window. Glass filters >90% of the rays that cause vitamin D production.

That's interesting, I was just wondering whether we get any benefit from ambient sunlight indoors. So you're saying 'yes' (a limited / very modest benefit). But how much sunlight do you need in order to saturate your vitamin D production? If I'm indoors in a room with a lot of windows all day, is that good enough?

No

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#94

Post by nucleardog »

orangecat wrote: post #39
Exmoor wrote: post #3

I must admit I was completely ignorant of the effects of Vitamin D deficiency on common illnesses such as the flu as well as how unbelievably common that deficiency is for people living in much of the northern hemisphere. Will it cure COVID19? No. But do I think there's a decent chance it will improve my outcome while simultaneously improving my ability to fight off other viruses. I am honestly completely shocked tha…

Yes. I won't be surprised if we eventually determine that advocating Vitamin D supplements would have been one of the most beneficial strategies we could have implemented. But it's a "drug", and therefore "unethical" to recommend without years of studies even though we know that it has effectively zero risk.

I don’t think that’s really the blocker here. Vitamin D supplementation is very low risk and the risks are well known. I’ve seen at least one study that I can recall saying exactly that—the correlation is there and vitamin D is safe and basically risk free so we should be supplementing it in at least the at-risk population immediately.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#95

Post by oh_sigh »

schoolornot wrote: post #34
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #10

It's unfortunate that it is not simple to get regular tests for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The whole process seems to be stuck behind the doctor appointment firewall. This might be one of the reasons why Theranos was so readily believed. As the quantified self movement that gained popularity around the same time showed, there's an appetite in certain segments of the population for this type of testing and trac…

When I'm feeling ill or need a test I call a friend of mine who is a nurse practitioner in another state. She has a ballpark idea of my current health, enough info to fit on an index card. Then she files a script with the pharmacy or writes me a prescription for a blood test. The whole thing is done in 5 minutes. In fact, the whole thing is done over iMessage. Firewall is the perfect term. Everyone knows the industry…

You can get blood tests without a prescription - or at least without a nurse friend, by just paying a fairly small fee and going to a local labcorp/quest diagnostics.

e.g. privatemdlabs.com (I'm not recommending this site - just giving it as an example. Though I have used it before without issue, there may be other companies providing better/more competitive services in this field)

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#96

Post by graeme »

andi999 wrote: post #26

I remember that there also was the result that supplementing does not help if you have covid. So to me it looks just like correlation and not causation (old sick people do not go out often and have less vitamin D. Probably same reason while you can find health benifits for alcohol: sick people stop drinking )

You missed this from late August. Rct, calcifediol administered to hospitalized patients. Absolutely massive effect on ICU admission.

There have been three RCT I know of. Another calcifediol study showed a big impact. An oral supplement study on hospitalized patients did not. Presumably because oral supplements take a while to change levels whereas calcifediol does not.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456194/

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#97

Post by colechristensen »

dwighttk wrote: post #82

Do Vitamin D headlines make it to the front page more than average or does it just seem that way?

There is a strong signal to noise radio when it comes to the positive effectiveness of vitamin D. It has the benefits of being a common deficiency and having substantial weight behind positive effectiveness, low negative consequences, and being easy to acquire.

People like the cure-all narrative, especially when even reasonable folk believe it has merit.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#98

Post by werber »

ryandvm wrote: post #54
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #10

It's unfortunate that it is not simple to get regular tests for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The whole process seems to be stuck behind the doctor appointment firewall. This might be one of the reasons why Theranos was so readily believed. As the quantified self movement that gained popularity around the same time showed, there's an appetite in certain segments of the population for this type of testing and trac…

I've often wondered if it would be economically feasible for blood donation banks to do this as a perk/incentive for giving blood. Every 6 months or so, you donate blood and as part of the process you get run-of-the-mill bloodwork report emailed to you a few days later. You'd have to make sure you weren't creating an incentive for sick people to donate blood just for the lab work, but otherwise it seems like it would…

I’ve had a similar thought but the opposite conclusion on sick people.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#99

Post by aksss »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #10

It's unfortunate that it is not simple to get regular tests for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The whole process seems to be stuck behind the doctor appointment firewall. This might be one of the reasons why Theranos was so readily believed. As the quantified self movement that gained popularity around the same time showed, there's an appetite in certain segments of the population for this type of testing and trac…

I usually use Ultalabtests.com to order my own blood work, but it pays to comparison shop even at an individual test level.

Being familiar with what tests I need to run and what the acceptable ranges are, there is literally no reason for me to go through the doctor appointment firewall anymore.

Around/after Thanksgiving, many of the online test mongers discount tests heavily, so it's not a bad idea to stock up for the year on lab work orders, as they don't expire.

Most online providers give you the choice of labs to use.

Re: Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

#100

Post by spease »

ryandvm wrote: post #54
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #10

It's unfortunate that it is not simple to get regular tests for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The whole process seems to be stuck behind the doctor appointment firewall. This might be one of the reasons why Theranos was so readily believed. As the quantified self movement that gained popularity around the same time showed, there's an appetite in certain segments of the population for this type of testing and trac…

I've often wondered if it would be economically feasible for blood donation banks to do this as a perk/incentive for giving blood. Every 6 months or so, you donate blood and as part of the process you get run-of-the-mill bloodwork report emailed to you a few days later. You'd have to make sure you weren't creating an incentive for sick people to donate blood just for the lab work, but otherwise it seems like it would…

I wonder if the business model could be a free or nearly free blood / genetic test for people. Each time you donate, you select either one genetic test panel or one blood test panel. The organization uses the money saved / earned from the blood donation to pay for the test. Possibly it also requires signing off on providing information to a research study as an additional revenue stream to pay for the testing / subsidize the creation of new panels.

I'm guessing this may not be economically feasible though. Additionally, you have the issue that people who can't afford health insurance would be literally selling their body for healthcare. Strictly speaking, it might be better than the alternative, but it's still not good that it's even necessary to consider something like this.

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