Posted on 02/27/2020 6:29:44 AM PST by blam
In April 2005, a virulent strain of influenza hit a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital for men thats midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. John J. Cannell, a psychiatrist there, observed with increasing curiosity as one infected ward after another was quarantined to limit the outbreak. Although 10 percent of the facilitys 1,200 patients ultimately developed the flus fever and debilitating muscle aches, none did in the ward that he supervised.
WINTER WOES. Cold-weather wear and the suns angle in the winter sky limit how much ultraviolet light reaches the skin. This can add up to a deficiency in production of vitamin D, which might explain why respiratory infections are common and severe in winter.
First, the ward below mine was quarantined, then the wards on my right, left, and across the hall, Cannell recalls. However, although the 32 men on his ward at Atascadero (Calif.) State Hospital had mingled with patients from infected wards before their quarantine, none developed the illness.
Cannells ward was the only heavily exposed ward left unaffected. Was it by mere chance, Cannell wondered, that his patients dodged the sickness?
A few months later, Cannell ran across a possible answer in the scientific literature. In the July 2005 FASEB Journal, Adrian F. Gombart of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his colleagues reported that vitamin D boosts production in white blood cells of one of the antimicrobial compounds that defends the body against germs.
Immediately, Cannell says, the proverbial lightbulb went on in his head: Maybe the high doses of vitamin D that he had been prescribing to virtually all the men on his ward
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
“John J. Cannell, a psychiatrist there...”
I hear he still prefers to write his stuff on a typewriter.
Don’t have that data.
Living in California we are blessed with a lot of sun days (minimum of 4-6 hours per day).
Also, we often get temps in the high 40’s to 60+, (today’s predicted high 77).
So it is easier for us get more suntime.
We have had a lot of friends retire in Floriduh, and they seem to stay healthy. They do have to watch getting too much sun.
Well, this time of year, I’d have to walk about 3 states over to get 30 minutes of sunlight day :)
Its easy to tell the correct dosage. If I take less than 5,000 per day I soon begin to hack up stuff and cough and cough in the morning. The D3 just eliminates all that. If is dont take it, it takes me about 2 hours of hacking to rid my lungs of the crap.
So you have your built in dosimeter. You are also probably avoiding pneumonia, which we old coots, (81 here) can get if we don’t get fresh air, sun and some exercise.
If I don’t take at least a quarter mile walk with my walking sticks, I just don’t feel good mentally or physically.
Thank you for posting this. Very interesting.
Re SAD. The link below is excellent re what can cause SAD and how to handle it.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/shining-a-light-on-winter-depression
I get SAD ... seasonal affective disorder. When I worked in an office, it was really, really bad during the winter months. On weekends, I would park myself in front of a south-facing window & read all afternoon, just trying to soak some rays. Sometimes when the weather was still too cold to be out, I even got in my little car, which would heat up & the sunlight coming in (no tinted windows) would help.
THEN ... some things happened (including quitting my high-stress job & losing 50 lbs) and I was hiking every weekend. I especially love winter hiking - no snakes, bugs, weeds & better views with no leaves on the trees. Often, I ended up in short sleeves while slogging up a steep trail, etc. .... no more SAD in the winters because evidently, I was getting enough natural light/sun. Currently, I care take my elderly folks & I’m inside most of the time (plus, my hiking companion died) and guess what? I have mild depression/SAD right now. I’m working on it - trying to get outside more & I’ve bumped up my Vit D, which does help. Spring will be here soon & I’ll be on the mower for hours & gardening so I’ll get plenty of sunlight then.
bmk
One other factor to help with blahs and the need to exercise out in the sunlight.
A certain % of people need to own dogs to exercise and enjoy life.
My wife and I grew up with good dogs, and we had a great one for 16 years. We loved them, but we don’t need a dog like some relatives, friends and others we know.
We each have a sibling, one of our children, friends and neighbors who need a dog to share their life.
In the past year + we have had these siblings, children, friends and neighbors, who had to have their vet put their dogs down due to the ravages of old age.
Everyone of them went through the classical symptoms of depression until they finally listened to Grampa Dave’s simple advice.
“Damn it you need a dog in your life! Go adopt one or buy one after a Vet checks it out!”
They are like human beings again after having a dog in their lives a very short time.
Of course they are getting outside walking/running and playing with their dogs.
So they are getting their exercise, sunlight and love from their dogs. They are back to being good humans instead of whiney excuses of humanity.
My wife has been a great compassionate RN, all of her adult life. She is as brutal as I am when someone we care about loses their dog and then their zest for life.
She tells them, “Get a damn dog, you are a miserable sob without one!”
“Well, this time of year, Id have to walk about 3 states over to get 30 minutes of sunlight day :)”
One of the main reasons we will never live in the midwest or on the east coast again.
There is help for you sun deprived people.
Re SAD. The link below is excellent re what can cause SAD and how to handle it in your home or office.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/shining-a-light-on-winter-depression
(plus, my hiking companion died)
Human or dog?
Ha. Are we on the same page. The kids around here call me 'the dog man' because I rescue the abandoned dogs in this area. I routinely have 4-5 dogs in the back of my truck headed to the park for our morning walks.
I agree....get a dog, they're good for you.
Thanks for this! I’ve been talking to my wife about D3 supplementation to (hopefully) boost our flagging immune systems, but I don’t really know where to begin.
If your don’t mind, please, I have a couple of questions: how do you determine the correct dosage you should be taking, and what brands of supplements would you recommend?
Ha. Are we on the same page. The kids around here call me ‘the dog man’ because I rescue the abandoned dogs in this area. I routinely have 4-5 dogs in the back of my truck headed to the park for our morning walks.
I agree....get a dog, they’re good for you.
Getting outside to exercise with your dogs and those you rescue has to be good for you.
I ask for a Vitamin-D screening twice a year during a yearly check (my insurance calls it a 'wellness check', it's for old people, and VA does one on me too) so, I get two a year and I adjusted based on those results. Last I looked, I was right in the middle of the recommended range while taking 10,000IU every day.
I get my Vitamin-D3, off-the-shelf, from Costco. Be sure to get D3. I buy the 5,000IU each capsules bottle.
How wonderful for you!
Not meaning to hijack your thread. But one more thing we have done the past cpl of years (and haven’t had more than a sniffle bugwise) is take dental probiotics. We STARTED taking them to eliminate morning breath. They REALLY work for that btw, also seem to help with plaque (along with the K2 we also take). But now it seems that SOME of these probiotics will colonize your throat and nasal passages to prevent colonization with other badder stuff. No clue if they work for this coronavirus but it’s really interesting that we (who usually get a cpl colds a year) haven’t had any since we started that were more than a sniffle or two.
The brand we take is ‘hyperbiotics’ ‘Pro Dental’.
We brush our teeth, floss, rinse with mouthwash then water. Then we take one of the lozenges and put it in the corner of our mouth somewhere and go to bed. Let it dissolve slowly on its own.
We used to have at least one positive swab for strep in the house every year. Haven’t had one of those either in 2 years.
YMMV of course and we might simply be outliers.
Thanks. Just put that on my list of things to buy.
I order ours from vitacost.com
They have a loyalty program (sign up for emails and get 10% off sometimes 20% off cpns). And I dislike Bezos :)
Amazon sells them too or I think the hyperbiotics site does too. the brand site has a LOT of probiotics.
We are impressed that they get rid of dragon breath :)
(ahem) The dogs haven't said a word about my breath.
LOL.
I’ve wondered if it will work on my doggo! No, I haven’t tried it on her, not sure it doesn’t have doggotoxic stuff in there.
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