4 ms·

> By contrast, normalizing vitamin D levels, eating healthier (more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, etc), achieving a healthy weight, sleeping be

by nick_ 2y ago

> By contrast, normalizing vitamin D levels, eating healthier (more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, etc), achieving a healthy weight, sleeping better, having less stress, having positive social interactions, and so on all have been shown to boost the immune system and reduce the burden of most infectious disease -- along with reducing the economic burden of many other health issues resulting from "diabesity" and also reducing many costly mental issues like depression. Those are things everyone should be doing for their general health. Citing general health recommendations for a specific illness would be redundant. In other words, not a conspiracy. Furthermore, general good health does not prevent someone from catching a virus, nor getting ill from it. Of course it may diminish both the likelihood of catching it and the severity of the resulting illness, but, again, the point of the sentence you quote is that a _specific_ tool for mitigating the scale and severity of a _specific_ contagion from the health care system's perspective is effective.

Sunspark 2y ago
And of course, you can be the healthiest most diligent person in the world, and if you run into a heavy hitter it'll still take its shots at you. Bryan Johnson who is focused on life extension caught covid and measured that it decreased his lung capacity and that many months later it was still decreased compared to prior. As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
pdfernhout 2y ago
From "Here’s How to Avoid Catching Colds and the Flu": https://time.com/4672626/vitamin-d-cold-flu/ https://time.com/4672626/vitamin-d-cold-flu/ "For the new study, a meta-analysis published in The BMJ, researchers looked at individual data from nearly 11,000 people who had participated in randomized controlled trials in more than a dozen countries. The researchers found that people who took daily or weekly vitamin D supplements were less likely to report acute respiratory infections, like influenza or the common cold, than those who did not. Those who had low vitamin D levels before they started supplementation got the biggest benefit: For people with the most significant vitamin D deficiencies (blood levels below 10 mg/dl), taking a supplement cut their risk of respiratory infection in half. People with higher vitamin D levels also saw a small reduction in risk: about 10%, which is about equal to the protective effect of the injectable flu vaccine, the researchers say. No significant benefits were associated with high doses of vitamin D spaced out over larger periods of time." So, given this BMJ-published research, why can researchers in the article's paper get away with claiming that flu vaccines are more effective than any other option (including vitamin D supplementation) when the research suggests otherwise?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > why can researchers in the article's paper get away with claiming that flu vaccines are more effective than any other option (including vitamin D supplementation) when the research suggests otherwise? What is the prevalence of <10 mg/dl Vitamin D deficiency in population? (Serious question.)
  - zahlman 2y ago
    (I'm pretty sure you mean ng/mL. Some countries measure in nmol/L, too. [1], [2]) Obviously it depends on which "population" you're talking about, but it's pretty common. Insufficiency is also relevant and should be avoided if possible. The NIH estimates perhaps 1 billion global cases of deficiency (including "subclinical deficiency") and "50% of the population" (so ~4 billion) cases of insufficiency. [3] Prevalence unsurprisingly varies by sun exposure (climate and lifestyle) and absorption (i.e., "skin melanin content" as [3] puts it), and also by age. Vitamin D supplements are quite cheap. I currently take 4000 IU/day and have taken as much as 10000 IU/day (for months at a time) in the past. Whatever the government might imply with its "RDA" or whatever, this should be completely safe, at least for anyone without very specific preexisting medical conditions - and the treatment for excess vitamin D levels (and the commonly associated hypercalcemia) is generally to just lay off for a while ([2], [4], [5]). Supplementation does work - I have blood tests to prove it. Regardless of any of the previous discourse about influenza or any other virus, it's probably a good idea for a very large fraction of the HN audience. [1]: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/ https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessiona... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D [3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/ [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D_toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D_toxicity [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercalcaemia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercalcaemia
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago

by nick_ 2y ago

Sunspark 2y ago

And of course, you can be the healthiest most diligent person in the world, and if you run into a heavy hitter it'll still take its shots at you. Bryan Johnson who is focused on life extension caught covid and measured that it decreased his lung capacity and that many months later it was still decreased compared to prior. As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

pdfernhout 2y ago

From "Here’s How to Avoid Catching Colds and the Flu": https://time.com/4672626/vitamin-d-cold-flu/ https://time.com/4672626/vitamin-d-cold-flu/ "For the new study, a meta-analysis published in The BMJ, researchers looked at individual data from nearly 11,000 people who had participated in randomized controlled trials in more than a dozen countries. The researchers found that people who took daily or weekly vitamin D supplements were less likely to report acute respiratory infections, like influenza or the common cold, than those who did not. Those who had low vitamin D levels before they started supplementation got the biggest benefit: For people with the most significant vitamin D deficiencies (blood levels below 10 mg/dl), taking a supplement cut their risk of respiratory infection in half. People with higher vitamin D levels also saw a small reduction in risk: about 10%, which is about equal to the protective effect of the injectable flu vaccine, the researchers say. No significant benefits were associated with high doses of vitamin D spaced out over larger periods of time." So, given this BMJ-published research, why can researchers in the article's paper get away with claiming that flu vaccines are more effective than any other option (including vitamin D supplementation) when the research suggests otherwise?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> why can researchers in the article's paper get away with claiming that flu vaccines are more effective than any other option (including vitamin D supplementation) when the research suggests otherwise? What is the prevalence of <10 mg/dl Vitamin D deficiency in population? (Serious question.)
- zahlman 2y ago
  (I'm pretty sure you mean ng/mL. Some countries measure in nmol/L, too. [1], [2]) Obviously it depends on which "population" you're talking about, but it's pretty common. Insufficiency is also relevant and should be avoided if possible. The NIH estimates perhaps 1 billion global cases of deficiency (including "subclinical deficiency") and "50% of the population" (so ~4 billion) cases of insufficiency. [3] Prevalence unsurprisingly varies by sun exposure (climate and lifestyle) and absorption (i.e., "skin melanin content" as [3] puts it), and also by age. Vitamin D supplements are quite cheap. I currently take 4000 IU/day and have taken as much as 10000 IU/day (for months at a time) in the past. Whatever the government might imply with its "RDA" or whatever, this should be completely safe, at least for anyone without very specific preexisting medical conditions - and the treatment for excess vitamin D levels (and the commonly associated hypercalcemia) is generally to just lay off for a while ([2], [4], [5]). Supplementation does work - I have blood tests to prove it. Regardless of any of the previous discourse about influenza or any other virus, it's probably a good idea for a very large fraction of the HN audience. [1]: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/ https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessiona... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D [3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/ [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D_toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D_toxicity [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercalcaemia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercalcaemia
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago