Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths

Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by andi999 on Monday November 30, 2020 @09:58PM (#25261788)

I remember that there also was the result that supplementing does not help if you have covid. So to me it looks just like correlation and not causation (old sick people do not go out often and have less vitamin D. Probably same reason while you can find health benifits for alcohol: sick people stop drinking )

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by graeme on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:41PM (#25262045)

You missed this from late August. Rct, calcifediol administered to hospitalized patients. Absolutely massive effect on ICU admission.

There have been three RCT I know of. Another calcifediol study showed a big impact. An oral supplement study on hospitalized patients did not. Presumably because oral supplements take a while to change levels whereas calcifediol does not.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456194/

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by deelowe on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:06PM (#25261840)

Studies seem to be mixed. I've had a hard time finding any that looked at individuals who supplement. Most seem to focus on vitamin d at infection onset or during critical care which is too late. Vitamin D takes about a month of loading for it to have an effect. The one study I did find had a very small sample size.

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by john_artemis on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:29PM (#25261978)

There are several studies where vitamin D works (amazingly well), and one study where it does not.

But in the study where it does not work, it's an oral supplement given after hospitalization. Oral vitamin D takes a while to elevate blood levels so the fact that such regimen doesn't work, doesn't prove much.

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by madrox on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:27PM (#25261968)

Actual experiments for causation take more time. The abstract itself addresses this: "Given the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and the proven safety of vitamin D supplementation, it therefore appears highly debatable and potentially even unethical to await results of such trials before public health action is taken."

I guess the real question is whether you'll wish you had been taking vitamin D if you get Covid-19. While this could end up being placebo, there's some compelling evidence that you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by thatguy0900 on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:21PM (#25261934)

Maybe it just takes a while for supplementation to actually raise your vitamin d levels

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by JoeAltmaier on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:03PM (#25261814)

Study adjusted for age, sex. So no.

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by loeg on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:15PM (#25261903)

There can be a 3rd variable other than age or sex!

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by geomark on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:26PM (#25261962)

Your comment reminded me of this Dilbert https://dilbert.com/strip/2014-05-09

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Re:Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Cov... by rriepe on Monday November 30, 2020 @10:33PM (#25262007)

This is because of the lag time of Vitamin D. It takes six weeks to change your levels. Since the course of Covid is lower than that, it's generally not helpful if you start supplementing after getting it.

There are enough "long hauler" cases where you still should, though.

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