3 ms·

A few years ago I got sick a lot and even got shingles. A blood test showed I was extremely vitamin D deficient so I've been supplementing ever since. So like

A few years ago I got sick a lot and even got shingles. A blood test showed I was extremely vitamin D deficient so I've been supplementing ever since. So like Stuart Smalley, while I'm not a doctor, I have read a lot about it due to my own health problems. The long and the short of it is that vitamin D is a hormone that takes weeks of supplementation to build up to sufficient levels. This hormone is instrumental in having a functional immune system. With regards to covid, severity seems to depend on immune system response. So it's not unreasonable to think vitamin D is necessary but not singularly sufficient to prevent severe covid.

stcredzero 6y ago
This is my understanding as a layperson who has looked into this a bit: If you look into the bradykinin hypothesis of action for Covid-19, you'll find that vitamin D and its metabolites are directly implicated in the network of effects Covid-19 has on your cellular functions. In particular, Covid-19 seems to severely down-regulate expression of certain genes, so that you would seem to be more vitamin D deficient than you would be otherwise! https://youtu.be/DZuCrwYa80s?t=169 https://youtu.be/DZuCrwYa80s?t=169 That's from several months ago, so maybe this isn't current research anymore.
kjrose 6y ago
Absolutely. Living in Alberta which is very far north, I've seen what can happen if you don't take proper vitamin d supplements regularly. Almost everyone I know is on a very high regular dosage of vitamin d over the winter and a lighter regimen over the summer. With regards to covis I'd believe that vitamin d deficiency would likely lead to a pathway response that is significantly weaker. However I would not expect someone who OD's on vitamin d pills to be suddenly healthy. More I'd expect people who don't have a decent vitamin d level to have a weaker immune system and thus naturally succumb to it more.
- deepsun 6y ago
  How people lived for thousands years at the same latitudes?
  - kjrose 6y ago
    Certain foods have higher vitamin d concentrations. However those foods are uncommon in the modern diet. For example the marine diet of the Inuit with seal blubber and such.
    - deepsun 6y ago
      Ok, but there were also a lot of people without sea access (e.g. caribou herders). How did they live without vitamin D supplements?
      - kjrose 6y ago
        There are other foods. But yes rickets was quite common in this area. We learned about it in school.
autokad 6y ago
I think news sources are desperate to downplay the importance of being outside getting sun and vitamin d because it highlights how them locking down everyone was probably one of the worst things that could be done.
- Jtsummers 6y ago
  Fortunately not every region took lockdowns to include barring going outside. At least here outdoor trails and parks were open, barring gatherings like large picnics and cookouts, for people to walk, run, cycle, or hike pretty early on.

stcredzero 6y ago

This is my understanding as a layperson who has looked into this a bit: If you look into the bradykinin hypothesis of action for Covid-19, you'll find that vitamin D and its metabolites are directly implicated in the network of effects Covid-19 has on your cellular functions. In particular, Covid-19 seems to severely down-regulate expression of certain genes, so that you would seem to be more vitamin D deficient than you would be otherwise! https://youtu.be/DZuCrwYa80s?t=169 https://youtu.be/DZuCrwYa80s?t=169 That's from several months ago, so maybe this isn't current research anymore.

kjrose 6y ago

Absolutely. Living in Alberta which is very far north, I've seen what can happen if you don't take proper vitamin d supplements regularly. Almost everyone I know is on a very high regular dosage of vitamin d over the winter and a lighter regimen over the summer. With regards to covis I'd believe that vitamin d deficiency would likely lead to a pathway response that is significantly weaker. However I would not expect someone who OD's on vitamin d pills to be suddenly healthy. More I'd expect people who don't have a decent vitamin d level to have a weaker immune system and thus naturally succumb to it more.

deepsun 6y ago
How people lived for thousands years at the same latitudes?
- kjrose 6y ago
  Certain foods have higher vitamin d concentrations. However those foods are uncommon in the modern diet. For example the marine diet of the Inuit with seal blubber and such.
  - deepsun 6y ago
    Ok, but there were also a lot of people without sea access (e.g. caribou herders). How did they live without vitamin D supplements?
    - kjrose 6y ago
      There are other foods. But yes rickets was quite common in this area. We learned about it in school.

autokad 6y ago

I think news sources are desperate to downplay the importance of being outside getting sun and vitamin d because it highlights how them locking down everyone was probably one of the worst things that could be done.

Jtsummers 6y ago
Fortunately not every region took lockdowns to include barring going outside. At least here outdoor trails and parks were open, barring gatherings like large picnics and cookouts, for people to walk, run, cycle, or hike pretty early on.