More On Vitamin D And SARS-CoV-2
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 6 months ago
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were vitamin D sufficient, with a blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at least 30 ng/mL (a measure of vitamin D status), had a significant decreased risk for adverse clinical outcomes including becoming unconscious, hypoxia (body starved for oxygen) and death. In addition, they had lower blood levels of an inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein) and higher blood levels of lymphocytes (a type of immune cell to help fight infection).
“This study provides direct evidence that vitamin D sufficiency can reduce the complications, including the cytokine storm (release of too many proteins into the blood too quickly) and ultimately death from COVID-19,” explained corresponding author Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics and molecular medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.
A blood sample to measure vitamin D status (measured serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D) was taken from 235 patients were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. These patients were followed for clinical outcomes including clinical severity of the infection, becoming unconscious, having difficulty in breathing resulting in hypoxia and death. The blood was also analyzed for an inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein) and for numbers of lymphocytes. The researchers then compared all of these parameters in patients who were vitamin D deficient to those who were vitamin D sufficient.
In patients older than 40 years they observed that those patients who were vitamin D sufficient were 51.5 percent less likely to die from the infection compared to patients who were vitamin D deficient or insufficient with a blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D less than 30 ng/mL.
Holick, who most recently published a study which found that a sufficient amount of vitamin D can reduce the risk of catching coronavirus by 54 percent, believes that being vitamin D sufficient helps to fight consequences from being infected not only with the coronavirus but also other viruses causing upper respiratory tract illnesses including influenza. “There is great concern that the combination of an influenza infection and a coronal viral infection could substantially increase hospitalizations and death due to complications from these viral infections.”
According to Holick this study provides a simple and cost-effective strategy to improve one’s ability to fight the coronavirus and reduce COVID-19’s adverse clinical outcomes, including requiring ventilator support, overactive immune response leading to cytokine storm and death. “Because vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is so widespread in children and adults in the United States and worldwide, especially in the winter months, it is prudent for everyone to take a vitamin D supplement to reduce risk of being infected and having complications from COVID-19.”
I maintain, as I always have based on the fact that the NIH themselves told us so, that Hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for this virus given the necessary combination of early treatment, antibiotics and Zinc. Also, there is the little issue of more than 100 studies to prove out the 2005 assertions by the NIH it its effectiveness.
However, absent this debate, there are things we can be doing to maintain our health, which we should be doing anyway.
Vitamins C and D, proper mineral intake (including Zinc), and getting plenty of exercise and sun, to name just a few.
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On September 27, 2020 at 8:25 pm, BRVTVS said:
Selenium is another important mineral for resisting viral infections. See https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/7/2098
On September 28, 2020 at 3:02 am, Duke Norfolk said:
Quercetin is a zinc ionophore (facilitates the transport of zinc across the cell membrane), equivalent to Hydroxychloroquine; but is a supplement available OTC.
Dr. Mercola has good stuff on this, and much else. He’s painted as a quack, naturally, as he’s a big threat to Big Pharma and the establishment medical crowd. But I’m pretty confident that he follows the evidence. He has possible conflicts of interest at times, as he sells things, but I never get the sense that he’s just shilling for his products.
On September 28, 2020 at 3:19 am, Duke Norfolk said:
I saw this just after I posted the above:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/28/coronavirus-infection-rate-vitamin-d.aspx
It covers the same study, but with a bit more detail.
On September 28, 2020 at 8:37 am, Drew458 said:
Let’s keep in mind that Dr. Holick is a huge D3 fan for many years. You decide if that influences this for better or worse.
BRVTVS – a single Brazil nut per day provides 175% of the MDR. Eat one or two per day for a week to get your levels up, then just one a day after that.
Duke Norfolk – I read Dr. Mercola too, but there are a number of reports on cuercetin that question its effectiveness. I take 2 capsules of it a day anyway.
It’s interesting reading the MATH+ protocol, which is the “standard care” that US hospitals give Covid patients. The “+” part includes zinc, D3, and magnesium. The MATH part includes IV vitamin C, lots of it … just like Linus Pauling said decades ago. And vitamin B1 ( thiamine ).
https://covid19criticalcare.com/math-hospital-treatment/pdf-translations/
No HCQ or Ivermectin. Compare MATH+ to ICAM, vaguely reported from FL:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/covid-19-treatment-underway-in-florida-has-near-perfect-success-rate
and know that Ivermectin is a macrolide class antibiotic. Treatment of choice in India and Australia. With zinc of course. And D3:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/quadruple-therapy-with-ivermectinis-effective-in-treating-covid-19/article32601262.ece
You can get a good part of this just by taking vitamins and a few mineral supplements. That alone ought to have a decent preventative effect.
On September 28, 2020 at 9:34 am, John said:
And of course the elderly are told to stay away from the possibly contageous by staying
inside. That means unless they are taking sufficient D supplements they are going to be
deficient due to staying away from D producing sunlight.
“That’s some Catch, that Catch-22.”
On September 28, 2020 at 12:18 pm, gomer said:
Why treat a virus infection with an antibiotic?? I’m no doctor, mind you.
On September 28, 2020 at 12:27 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I know I have doctors who read this blog, and they’ll have to weigh in.
I don’t think the antibiotics are for attacking the virus. I think the antibiotics are for ameliorating the consequences caused by the virus.
Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, however, are a different story, being anti-parasite drugs.
On September 28, 2020 at 12:53 pm, Ron W said:
Even Dr. Fauci admitted recently that he had been and was taking Vitamin D and Vitamin C to help prevent Covid -19 infection. He said it would be OK if people wanted to do that. Oh’ thanks Doc! Why has he been withholding this information and advice??? No one in the media or officialdom asked that question, nor do they recommend supplementation of C, D and the minerals!!! They do not care about our health!
On September 28, 2020 at 4:12 pm, fdcol63 said:
Unfortunately, we have a medical system based on TREATMENT, not prevention or cure. Treatment provides a recurring source of revenue, where the others do not. It’s as simple as that.
On September 28, 2020 at 4:33 pm, BRVTVS said:
@ Gomer
It turns out that some antibiotics like tetracycline do have broad spectrum anti-viral properties. Molecular docking simulations show that they are useful against SARS-Cov-2.
On September 28, 2020 at 4:36 pm, BRVTVS said:
Here’s a recent paper about antiviral uses of doxycycline: https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Dox_Covid_pre-print.pdf
On September 28, 2020 at 9:39 pm, T Bri said:
I care for a lot of nursing home residents in hospital (nurse). They are all, invariably, very pale. I suspect they get little to no natural sunshine. Add that to the low D levels common to our darker-skinned northern populations and that may account for a lot of the pattern of severe infections we have seen.
A lot, not all. I had several Latino corona patients who were outdoor workers, landscapers and construction workers.
On September 28, 2020 at 9:45 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Cuomo couped people up in nursing homes, when what should have been done is to roll them out into the sun and given them vitamins.
Everything they have done has been ass-backwards.
On September 29, 2020 at 10:27 pm, Sisu said:
Cuomo had deliberate intent to euthanize the ALF / nursing home residents. I strongly suspect first, it was an ready way to eliminate Medicaid patients (a “budget saver”) and second the reimbursement rate for CoVid patients from CMMS was 3x that for pneumonia / flu (thus helping hospitals which are campaign contributors).