5 ms·

I've been very frustrated in my attempts to raise this issue with the local health department where I live. I was brushed aside, and was told "correlation does

I've been very frustrated in my attempts to raise this issue with the local health department where I live. I was brushed aside, and was told "correlation does not imply causation". I doubt that the person on the phone wanted to get into a conversation about dynamical systems or nonlinear data analysis, so I didn't even go there. Instead I sent a letter full of references to published research, and citing other letters (peer reviewed) urging public health officials to recommend safe levels of supplementation. I received 0 engagement. I should really send the letter every day until someone responds. Aside from all of the promising anecdotal evidence and population studies, there is plenty of established theory to understand just how Vitamin D might help lessen the load of Covid-19. Decades of published, reviewed research have shown that Vitamin D: - helps regulate calcium metabolism and ionization... disregulated calcium levels are also linked to poor covid outcomes - downregulates some of the same inflammatory cytokines involved in the positive feedback loops seen in bad covid cases - directly regulates the expression of ACE-2 genes - regulates the renin-angiotensin system - regulates circadian rhythm Other supplements that work with Vitamin D to help regulate calcium metabolism and ionization are also promising, including K2 and magnesium. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.01.20112334v2 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.01.20112334v... A friend of mine who's a doctor also told me that a lot of people with bad covid outcomes just have general electrolyte imbalances. To what degree is this pandemic just a manifestation of basic malnutrition on a massive scale? At this point, I've come to the conclusion that there is a systemic conflict of interest in many health systems around the world. It's most blatant in the US. Specifically: It seems that there are certain "neo-Malthusian" individuals high up in the chains of command who simply have no interest in implementing low risk, low cost measures that prevent loss of life, and instead use their power to further cater to the already privileged groups of people they deem fit for life. This goes beyond covid-19.

y0ssar1an 6y ago
In this case, the doctors really do know better. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to just about every disease. That's because it's a marker of frailty, not a direct cause for most of these diseases. In other words, correlation does not imply causation. It sounds like you have too much confidence in published research and not enough confidence in your local health officials.
- ColanR 6y ago
  > too much confidence in published research and not enough confidence in your local health officials I can't figure out if you're being sarcastic, or if you really do think that a local politician knows more about medicine than is contained in actual medical research.
  - y0ssar1an 6y ago
    He's been talking with "the local health department", not some local politician. I trust health departments a lot more than I trust techies grepping PubMed. Techies don't have the context to understand and filter bogus research. Studies that correlate Vitamin D deficiency with X goes straight to the mental spam filter for experienced people in public health. If Vitamin D deficiency actually caused all this disease we would be living in a golden age of progress on cancer, heart disease, infectious disease, mental health, etc. because Vitamin D deficiency is easy and cheap to treat.
- wtetzner 6y ago
  > That's because it's a marker of frailty, not a direct cause for most of these diseases. Do you actually know that? > In other words, correlation does not imply causation. Sorry, but just because correlation does not imply causation doesn't mean that Vitamin D deficiency isn't a cause.
ColanR 6y ago
I'd tend to agree with you. There's a lot of pharmaceutical money to be made on this crisis, especially if Covid-19 becomes seasonal. Don't want to waste that opportunity by treating it with something cheap like Vitamin D. In line with how Monsanto covered up studies showing the dangers of Roundup (and faked other studies that indicated no danger, and did a fair bit of astroturfing, iirc), I'd expect to see a lot of misinformation in the future about the ineffectiveness - maybe even the danger? - of Vitamin D supplements.
davidwitt415 6y ago
A simpler explanation is profit motive; it doesn't 'pay' to promote free/low cost alternatives. Most of western medicine is geared this way, imo.
- macawfish 6y ago
  I agree, and don't believe your explanation is all that different from mine. Market driven medicine implicitly favors people who for whatever reason find themselves in the position to pay for care, and slowly but surely culls those who aren't. People with the power to regulate health care "markets", to shape the incentive structures and make them less overtly biased in favor of wealthy people, sometimes they do this and sometimes they don't. Currently, at least in the US, in the midst of this unfolding crisis, the power balance seems skewed toward the "let's take a violent trek toward 'herd immunity' as soon as possible" decision makers, many of whom are more or less blatantly eugenic.
- goldforever 6y ago
  EXACTLY!
black6 6y ago
> It seems that there are certain "neo-Malthusian" individuals high up in the chains of command who simply have no interest in implementing low risk, low cost measures that prevent loss of life, and instead use their power to further cater to the already privileged groups of people they deem fit for life. Especially the push for new expensive drugs like Remdesivir--by people who stand to profit from the sale thereof--over existing safe, effective, and cost effecient treatment protocols like HCQ-Zn-azithromicin[0]. 0: https://hcqtrial.com/ https://hcqtrial.com/
spfzero 6y ago
Thank you for posting this. K2 and Mg are important to include in a D3 supplementation plan. You could also just get more sun exposure. Aside from possible COVID benefits, serum D levels correlate well with many other positive outcomes. Doesn’t prove anything, but at some point you have to bow to a preponderance of studies that strongly imply a positive outcome you care strongly about. Especially with low cost and essentially no risk.
neilwilson 6y ago
Tentative paper in the Lancet about it. Quite why there is so much objection to something that is likely a good thing in any case makes you wonder what the issue is with it. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30268-0/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8...
- macawfish 6y ago
  Great article!

y0ssar1an 6y ago

In this case, the doctors really do know better. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to just about every disease. That's because it's a marker of frailty, not a direct cause for most of these diseases. In other words, correlation does not imply causation. It sounds like you have too much confidence in published research and not enough confidence in your local health officials.

ColanR 6y ago
> too much confidence in published research and not enough confidence in your local health officials I can't figure out if you're being sarcastic, or if you really do think that a local politician knows more about medicine than is contained in actual medical research.
- y0ssar1an 6y ago
  He's been talking with "the local health department", not some local politician. I trust health departments a lot more than I trust techies grepping PubMed. Techies don't have the context to understand and filter bogus research. Studies that correlate Vitamin D deficiency with X goes straight to the mental spam filter for experienced people in public health. If Vitamin D deficiency actually caused all this disease we would be living in a golden age of progress on cancer, heart disease, infectious disease, mental health, etc. because Vitamin D deficiency is easy and cheap to treat.
wtetzner 6y ago
> That's because it's a marker of frailty, not a direct cause for most of these diseases. Do you actually know that? > In other words, correlation does not imply causation. Sorry, but just because correlation does not imply causation doesn't mean that Vitamin D deficiency isn't a cause.

ColanR 6y ago

I'd tend to agree with you. There's a lot of pharmaceutical money to be made on this crisis, especially if Covid-19 becomes seasonal. Don't want to waste that opportunity by treating it with something cheap like Vitamin D. In line with how Monsanto covered up studies showing the dangers of Roundup (and faked other studies that indicated no danger, and did a fair bit of astroturfing, iirc), I'd expect to see a lot of misinformation in the future about the ineffectiveness - maybe even the danger? - of Vitamin D supplements.

davidwitt415 6y ago

A simpler explanation is profit motive; it doesn't 'pay' to promote free/low cost alternatives. Most of western medicine is geared this way, imo.

macawfish 6y ago
I agree, and don't believe your explanation is all that different from mine. Market driven medicine implicitly favors people who for whatever reason find themselves in the position to pay for care, and slowly but surely culls those who aren't. People with the power to regulate health care "markets", to shape the incentive structures and make them less overtly biased in favor of wealthy people, sometimes they do this and sometimes they don't. Currently, at least in the US, in the midst of this unfolding crisis, the power balance seems skewed toward the "let's take a violent trek toward 'herd immunity' as soon as possible" decision makers, many of whom are more or less blatantly eugenic.
goldforever 6y ago
EXACTLY!

black6 6y ago

> It seems that there are certain "neo-Malthusian" individuals high up in the chains of command who simply have no interest in implementing low risk, low cost measures that prevent loss of life, and instead use their power to further cater to the already privileged groups of people they deem fit for life. Especially the push for new expensive drugs like Remdesivir--by people who stand to profit from the sale thereof--over existing safe, effective, and cost effecient treatment protocols like HCQ-Zn-azithromicin[0]. 0: https://hcqtrial.com/ https://hcqtrial.com/

spfzero 6y ago

Thank you for posting this. K2 and Mg are important to include in a D3 supplementation plan. You could also just get more sun exposure. Aside from possible COVID benefits, serum D levels correlate well with many other positive outcomes. Doesn’t prove anything, but at some point you have to bow to a preponderance of studies that strongly imply a positive outcome you care strongly about. Especially with low cost and essentially no risk.

neilwilson 6y ago

Tentative paper in the Lancet about it. Quite why there is so much objection to something that is likely a good thing in any case makes you wonder what the issue is with it. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30268-0/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8...

macawfish 6y ago
Great article!