Posted on 02/03/2022 6:29:13 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Vitamin D is most often recognized for its role in bone health, but low levels of the supplement have been associated with a range of autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Early on in the pandemic health officials began to encourage people to take vitamin D, as it plays a role in promoting immune response and could protect against COVID-19.
In a study researchers show a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 severity and mortality.
The study is among the first to analyze vitamin D levels prior to infection, which facilitates a more accurate assessment than during hospitalization, when levels may be lower secondary to the viral illness.
The records of 1,176 patients admitted between April 2020 and February 2021 to the Galilee Medical Center (GMC) with positive PCR tests were searched for vitamin D levels measured two weeks to two years prior to infection.
Patients with vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL) were 14 times more likely to have severe or critical case of COVID than those with more than 40 ng/mL.
Strikingly, mortality among patients with sufficient vitamin D levels was 2.3%, in contrast to 25.6% in the vitamin D deficient group.
The study adjusted for age, gender, season (summer/winter), chronic diseases, and found similar results across the board highlighting that low vitamin D level contributes significantly to disease severity and mortality.
"Our results suggest that it is advisable to maintain normal levels of vitamin D. This will be beneficial to those who contract the virus," says Dr. Amiel Dror.
"This study contributes to a continually evolving body of evidence suggesting that a patient's history of vitamin D deficiency is a predictive risk factor associated with poorer COVID-19 clinical disease course and mortality," said Prof. Michael Edelstein.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
YOU GO!! :-)
This is a detailed comment from a doctor about Vitamin D.
“As a doctor, part of my job is to help my patients
sort through all the health information that they get from the media. There are a lot of mixed messages out there, and it’s easy to become uncertain if something is good for your body or bad.
Take sunlight as a case in point. For years now, you’ve heard through public service announcements, commercials and your dermatologist that sunlight is dangerous. So, if you’re like most Americans, you slather on sunscreen before going outside, you wear sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat, and you stay indoors during the peak hours of the day. It turns out, you may have gone a little overboard. Sunlight is your body’s main source of vitamin D. When sunlight hits your skin it catalyzes the production of vitamin D, and vitamin D is very, very important to your health.
Just take a look at some of the evidence… Vitamin D Lowers Cancer Risk: In a clinical trial involving postmenopausal women, those who regularly supplemented with vitamin D and calcium lowered their relative risk of suffering from any cancer by 60 percent. Vitamin D Protects Your Heart: Researchers looked for an association between low vitamin D levels and heart disease risk factors. They found that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood were 30% more likely to have high blood pressure. And nearly twice as likely to develop diabetes and become obese.
But that’s not all. A low level of vitamin D led to 47% higher triglyceride levels. Vitamin D Builds Strong Bones: Studies show that sixty-six percent of adults with osteoporosis or osteopenia (both diseases that cause the loss of bone density) also have low levels of vitamin D.
How to Be Sure You’re Getting Enough Vitamin D Sunlight is the safest, healthiest way to be sure you’re getting
enough vitamin D. There are a couple of keys to safe and healthy sun exposure:
1. Sunscreen disrupts the vitamin D process, so plan to go out into the sun unprotected for short periods of time when the sun is high.Twenty minutes three times a week is a good start.
2. Base your sun exposure on your complexion. Fair-skinned people need much less sun than people with darker complexions.
3. Don’t let your skin burn. If you’re going to be out in the sun for a longer period of time, take measures to protect yourself.
A number of people are at a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. The elderly, people who are obese, and African Americans are all more likely to develop a vitamin D deficiency.
Also, during the winter months, unless you live close to the equator, you’re likely to develop a deficiency. That’s why, for people in these groups or locations, it is important to supplement. When choosing a vitamin D supplement, you want to pick one that contains vitamin D3. This is the active component of vitamin D and sometimes called cholecalciferol.
It is safe and easy for your body to use.
Avoid supplements that contain vitamin D2 or ergocalciferol. It’s not a form that your body can use easily, and it can be toxic in high amounts. The best natural source of vitamin D, second only to the sun, is cod liver oil. There are actually a number of cod liver oil brands available that don’t taste fishy and that serve as an excellent nutritional supplement. All it takes is a tablespoon a day, so give it a try!
Stay well, Mark Rosenberg, MD”
The following link includes information on getting your blood tested for a number of nutrients including Vitamin D.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326167#summary
My grandfather said the key to live long is drink plenty of water and take long walks daily. He lived to age 98.
Good summary. I think the focus is on older people because of Covid vulnerability, and your doc does talk supplements for the elderly.
We do talk mostly elderly, but the early stats always said 80% of deaths are 65+, 20% are thus under 65. Likely concentrated 55+ but still, 20% of 900K is 180K who were not scheduled to die til 78ish.
A year ago when I started seeing reports of pediatric Covid cases with severe symptomology I said probably Vitamin D deficiency. This was based on studies I had read about the effect of D deficiency on blood platelets. Also, the observation that children in urban settings often don’t get outdoors as much as they should. Responsible parents may be afraid to let their children spend time in the streets, and be too busy working to supervise outside play. I was simewhat sickly as a child, and remember the doctor prescribed cod liver oil, a teaspoon a day. Also Argerol (silver solution) swabs placed in my nostrils for 1/2 hour while lying down for respiratory illnesses. My tonsils were removed when I was under 5, I had ear infections, measles,
chicken pox, and colds.
I read a report that the governor of Florida has appointed a Surgeon General who is advising zinc, Vitamin D3 and C, and Quercetin among other things. Will be interesting to see how Florida Covid statistics compare with other states in future Worldometers Covid-19 US reports. I wonder how this is being communicated to the public?
Still kicking!
Here is the link for Governor DiSantis’ appointment of a supplement friendly Surgeon General last Sept. No wonder FL has good Covid statistics. Several links to Florids information sites, and 40 links to Covid developments over the past two years.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4020860/posts
blam: Glad to hear you are doing well. Be sure to have your blood tested for optimum Vitamin D. 50 to 80 ng/mL is the optimam range stated by Kaiser Permanente when I was tested. After taking 2000 to 5000 IU of D3 since Summer 2020 depending on sun exposure and season—summer versus winter, my ng/mL level was 66 this December.
D3 is checked every six months.
I bought Brazil nuts this morning after reading this:
Natural mineral may help reverse memory loss (Selenium supplementation grows neurons)
(See my post #7 on that thread about Selenium)
Clicking your red line kept bringing me to a post about Vitamin D. Then I entered that line as a URL at Google and found a number of articles, one of which was yours. I looked at your Comment #7. Useful to know as the Atkins diet lists Brazil nuts as something to eat in the early part of the diet, since they are high protein and low carb. It has already been posted on Free Republic and here is the link.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4036400/posts
Interesting. VA specifies 35. That’s their target blood measurement for Vit D.
Maybe age dependent.
Delta smacked Florida hard and that’s only a few months ago. They are seeing significant uptick to Omicron, too.
FL never reports daily numbers of significance. They take weeks to accumulate, so the Omicron peak on the graph shows nearly 200 daily dead mid Jan, then sharply down. The sharply down is mostly delayed reporting. When we were monitoring FL in mid Jan they were reporting 1 and 2 deaths on those days, because they had not arrived yet at the tabulator. Scroll down to the death curves:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/florida/
FL gets serious sunshine. Gotta help Vit D wise.
I believe the Worldometers charts show a lag line where the data is not yet current, and I think that was beyond mid January. At any rate looking at another chart it appears the hospitalization surge occurred at the end of Dec. This could have been due to holiday parties and visiting including more than usual numbers of out of state visitors. A two week lag from illness to death seems about right.
We have 40 tabs each of 6 and 12 mg tablets of Ivermectin in reserve.
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