Another study, this time from Israel, shows correlation between low Vitamin D levels and COVID-19 risk:
Good levels of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, help people to fight the coronavirus more quickly and effectively and reduce chances of hospitalization, Israeli researchers have concluded.
The study was conducted at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv — ‘a public research university and Israel’s second largest academic institution’:
Times of Israel:
Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern of Bar Ilan University told The Times of Israel on Sunday that vitamin D is “like a steroid,” after publishing what she says is the world’s largest population-based study of its kind.
Her team studied a 7,807-strong sample of Israelis who were tested for the coronavirus. It found that the average vitamin D level for people who screened negative was in the internationally-accepted “adequate” range, while the average for those who tested positive fell in the “inadequate” category.
Vitamin D levels of less than 20 nanograms per milliliter of blood are considered inadequate.
This is not the first study showing links between Vitamin D levels and Covid infection risk and it won’t be the last.
The study has been peer-reviewed and is available here. I HIGHLY recommend you read the rest of the Times of Israel article.
For the folks out there who don’t follow this kind of research regularly, let’s make some things clear:
1. Vitamin D research has been vigorous over the last 15 years. Scientists and researchers both domestic and internationally have been releasing study after study highlighting the potential negative health impacts of Vitamin D deficiency and pushing government institutions to increase the recommended dosages as well as invest in more research. As a result RDA has doubled at least once in the last 20 years and it’s no longer just the ‘bone’ vitamin.
2. This isn’t about Dr. Oz, scare headlines, and internet conspiracies though unfortunately Vitamin D has become a pawn just like, well, all of us in a constant war of misinformation. Vitamin D research existed before Twitter and Facebook, it continues on today.
For those of us who have been following Vitamin D research over the years, the continued focus on Vitamin D during the pandemic is not a surprise. Why? Because multiple studies have shown a link in deficiency to the following:
Diabetes
Hypertention, Cardiovascular, Blood Pressure Risk
Inflammation (Cytokine)
Respiratory Infection
Those sound familiar? They should. Those are some of the major co-morbidities associated with the Coronavirus. Factor that in with Vitamin D’s efficacy being lower the darker your skin and… do the math.
But though people of color are at greatest risk, the concern over deficiency is global. This is about more than just ‘get some sunshine’:
Vitamin D levels below the recommended level — classed as deficiency or, less seriously, insufficiency — are very common, and it is estimated that a billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency and 50 percent of the population has an insufficiency. Frenkel-Morgenstern said that her research suggests that some 70 percent of Israelis have low vitamin D levels.
Toxicity:
This always comes up because people just hit the web and read the blanket statements without understanding the fine print: Vitamin D in and of itself is not toxic. Again, it’s akin to a hormone that your body produces. Potential toxicity is related to *CALCIUM* build up. Hypercalcemia. So if you are taking lots (LOTS) of calcium or have an issue with processing calcium then that’s where the toxicity issues with Vitamin D comes in. If you notice, despite the constant scare warnings, actual hypercalcemia as a result of Vitamin D is rare. This is established and non-controversial.
Resources:
If you want a reliable one-stop research shop for Vitamin D, I highly recommend Grassroots Health based out of UCLA. They work with folks from prestige institutions including Harvard, Creighton, etc etc. They’ve provided at home testing for *years* now and are continuously updating their findings based on participant samples. They are a great resource.
I could go on but it’s already taken me an hour hour just to write/link this much. Of course there are counter-studies, opposing views, just like with any other area of research but from my experience over the years the fact that the Institute of Medicine and similar agencies in other countries has doubled the RDA, increased the max dosage, and (reluctantly) admit that Vitamin D is more than just the ‘bone’ Vitamin is a testament to the impact and quality of the studies done over the last 15 years.
These kinds of diaries can get contentious or overlooked and normally I don’t care since DK isn’t really the place for this kind of discussion anyway. But the recent reputable reports showing the high percentage of possible cardiac and neurological damage even for those with mild symptoms is frightening. If an inexpensive Vitamin can even make a small difference, there’s no excuse not to take it. A million options available on Amazon for $10 and it’s demon sperm-free.
BONUS ROUND:
Recent article of research being done in Arizona and University of Chicago
AZCentral:
After seeing a correlation between severe COVID-19 patients and vitamin D deficiency, the researchers hypothesized that the vitamin, absorbed through sunlight by the skin, could play a role in helping the body's immune system fight the novel coronavirus.
An earlier observational study of 499 patients by the University of Chicago found that patients with untreated vitamin D deficiencies were almost twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 compared to those with enough vitamin D.
EDITORIAL: Just so people understand when it comes to the skeptical statements regarding the *quality* of these recent COVID/Vitamin D studies. What these arguments leave out — evincing lack of actual knowledge about Vitamin D — is that Vitamin D levels don’t rise right away. You don’t get a shot and boop you’re good. It takes a long time for your levels to build properly. Which is why waiting for a randomized control trial could be kinda tricky.
I suppose you could preselect a group of people who have tested negative, give them vitamin D for weeks or even months, then expose them to the virus, and then assess results. But that might be a tough sell.
To quote my Senior Level PM sig. other formerly of a Medical Device company that dealt with one of the co-morbidities: “We have no time for that. It’s a f*cking pandemic.”
EDIT 2: Folks if you’re going to post dissenting views at least do myself and others the respect of clicking on the links provided to the different articles and studies. I have no problem with expressing skepticism but it should at least reflect that you’ve read what’s being discussed.
I also want to say thank you to all those who’ve taken the time to share their personal stories.