Should the Government be handing out free doses of Vitamin D NOW?

[LWJ70]

I have recently discovered (from reading very new scientific abstracts) that low Vit D levels leave us more prone to respiratory tract viruses. Most people only associate it with a healthy skeleton. After a long, cold winter, millions of us could be slightly deficient. Our most vulnerable section of society is unable to make use of the sunlight, which is beneficial.Could this explain the greatly differing pathways of coronavirus throughout the globe? Read these abstracts:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30675873
clinmedjournals.org/article...ases-and-epidemiology-jide-3-030.php?jid=jide

Difficult to decipher the abstract's stats without looking at the full paper. It is a summary from 25 previous studies with a grand total of 11,321 participants. It is published by US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health with a big participation from the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London.

One thing is clear though:

''Vitamin D supplementation was safe, and it protected against ARIs overall. Very deficient individuals ................... experienced the benefit.

(ARI = acute respiratory infections)

I am amazed why this info is not being published in the wider public domain. Instead we have celebrity workouts, toilet rolls and memes.

Elderly people in sunny climates are probably not aware that they have afforded themselves a greater fighting chance to survive coronavirus.

There are 5.4 million people in the UK above the age of 75 years. The majority of them are locked in their houses (or they would prefer to be). If they leave their houses to buy vitamin supplements from a pharmacist, they could be exposed to the coronavirus. This is not far-fetched- a coronavirus can survive nine days or more on plastic/metal surfaces. Many parts of the UK are at a perfect temperature now for viral stability. If two thirds of infected people are asymptomatic, the infection is already everywhere.

My point is, why doesn't the NHS select the most vulnerable and make a mass delivery of Vit D or a broad spectrum of supplements?

I thought it had been recommended we take a vitamin d supplement for years now as most of us wear suncream. I only found out about k2 recently though and have never taken this.

OP, I have been saying this on several threads. The people who are dying are from groups which are generally considered to be vitamin D deficient;
1 BAME - extremely overrepresented in death statistics

1. Obese
2. The elderly
3. 50+ the age at which skin stops being as efficient in converting sunshine to vitamin D
4. Covered/conservatively dressed - incl Orthodox Jews. The Jewish community made up 10% of the original death statistics in the UK, despite being less than .3% of the population.

I can't understand why this isn't being discussed more!

I don't think it should necessarily be a government hand out though 😳.
We can choose vitamin D fortified food for children, get outside in sunlight and expose some skin (including those covered for religious reasons - albeit in a private place), oily fish and eggs are relatively inexpensive compared to other foods.Vitamin D tablets are available from supermarkets for under £4 now and much cheaper pre-virus online and in Superdrug.
I think those groups need a reminder and advice on dosage.

Interesting point of view feelingverylazytoday

1 x ventilator cost = from £16,000

60 Vit D tablets = from £1.15

That equates to nearly 14,000 doses of Vit D supplement.

There are approx 147,900 pensioners in Birmingham.

That would cost £170,085 to give them all 2 months free doses of Vit D

I'm not proposing that the Gov should not construct ventilators. I'm saying that whilst it takes 2 months to start acquiring new ventilators, money spent on Vit D supplements (in the meantime) for the most vulnerable would be a good option right now.

The most vulnerable of our society are locked in their houses and frightened, they are taking a big risk, given the viral stability, if they go outside.

The most vulnerable of our society are locked in their houses and frightened
Are you referring to over 75's here? Really, there seems to be no signs that this group are afraid of going out. Quite the opposite, in fact.
No, sorry, I still think people should be responsible for buying their own vitamin supplements, along with their other basic needs.

I’ve too noticed that the NHS workers who have sadly lost their lives to Covid 19 are nearly all BAME people. I was amazed when they showed a gallery of faces last night on channel 4 news. Why is no-one (apart from us!) discussing this?!
They also reported from Detroit where something like 40% of Covid deaths are black people when they only represent 4% of the population. They discussed the link to poverty but there has to be more to it....

I sat out in the sun today to get vitamin d.

Got a bit cocky and I think I’ve burnt myself 🤦🏻‍♀️. All my own fault.

Maybe the hospitals should be hooking people upto intensive Vitamin drips so their bodies can have a fighting chance against the virus.

Do you realise how many lines are already in people who are in hospital on vents?! FFS.

How much daily dose should we be taking?

By the time people reach hospital, it’s kind of too late to administer vitaminD, much better to take it as a prophylactic. It’s an important public health measure that’s maybe the most cost effective, most-bang-for-least-buck thing the government could do for the nation’s health and wellbeing, whilst simultaneously significantly reducing the tax burden of the health service. Investing a couple £M on vit d3 could save billions across a wide range of conditions, from depression/mental health to infectious diseases to dentistry & orthopaedics.

I’d also be really interested to find out if vit D used as prophylaxis could reduce the R0 of an infectious disease, by “inoculating” the population so they are less susceptible to becoming infectious... and thereby benefiting everyone.

feelingverylazytoday

No, sorry, I still think people should be responsible for buying their own vitamin supplements, along with their other basic needs.

There are approx 416,000 elderly people in UK care homes.
They are not going to pop out to Boots to buy vitamin D supplements anytime soon.

Please read these horrific accounts of the grim crisis in Europe's care homes:

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52147861

and bare in mind the UK is only a few days behind this exponential increase of infections and fatalities.

I’m taking Vit D, Zinc, Vitamin C and Quercetin.

A lot of that aligns with the prophylactic treatment protocol recently released by the Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in Virginia:

drive.google.com/file/d/1P-4LOBRFfn84h8lBs98IEjC6ml7Nv6tx/view?fbclid=IwAR08EWGMPvFQ2QP604OrpP0IA71EbOdUC98UNBsXUSDMTVQfUazmFjrrXLY

bear in mind, I mean

lannister, I’d recommend 3000 - 5000 iu (75 -125 mcg). Also take vit K2 with it, either look for a joint D3-K2 suuplement, or get K2 through diet... gouda cheese, grassfed butter, proper outdoor free range eggs, red meat, liver, pate etc are good sources. Also get outdoors in the nice weather wearing shorts and short sleeve top for vit D. Be out for just under half the time it takes your skin type to begin to turn pink. Burning is counterproductive.

My DD8 has just been diagnosed as deficient. We had to push for a test. She is outside a lot, eats salmon, eggs, mushrooms etc and takes multivitamins. She now has a percription to start, but im really worried. She is a small, fit and active child that eats any food type.

EmMac7

Wow, this protocol is way ahead of the NHS's recommendations and exactly the kind of information the public needs to have.

It's interesting that this protocol is aimed at healthcare specialists.

I've just recovered from Covid 19 and people really need to prepare themselves in any way they can, believe me.

For those coming late in the thread, here are the articles which give us evidence that vitamin D can give us more of a fighting chance if our levels are low. And the older we get, the more difficult it is for our bodies to accumulate vitamin D sufficiently:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30675873

clinmedjournals.org/articles/jide/journal-of-infectious-diseases-and-epidemiology-jide-3-030.php?jid=jide

Don't forget, the only thing that can fight coronavirus is your immune system. Certain white blood cells only last for a few days and are produced, of course, in your bone marrow.

The elderly in care homes would be the easiest to get vitamin D supplements to during lockdown because regular deliveries of medicine will be delivered to the home anyway. Assuming the right dose and combination is given, how long does it take to raise levels? A couple of months?

I’ll also say that unless you’re eating a traditional indigenous diet of the far northern latitudes like several hundred grams per day of salmon, herring, seal meat, whale blubber etc, you cannot obtain enough vitamin D through diet. And most people live sedentary indoor lives even in summer, so don’t make enough from sunshine to see them through winter. I’ve even heard of professional gardeners who work outdoors for several hours being vit D deficient. So supplementing is essential to maintain good health across a wide range of potential conditions.

@Icenisky - at least you got her tested and I hope her levels raise quickly. Are other members of the family deficient? Did the doctor question why an active, outdoor child who eats well would be deficient? Although I read that most of us are in the UK in winter.

I agree BahHumbygge
I’d also be really interested to find out if vit D used as prophylaxis could reduce the R0 of an infectious disease, by “inoculating” the population so they are less susceptible to becoming infectious... and thereby benefiting everyone.

But unfortunately there's too many politicians and senior civil servants either ill/isolating/running around like headless chickens to even contemplate dishing out cheap doses of vitamin D.

It's too outside of the box for them.

Completely agree. So many people dont realise they need to supplement, esp elderly or overweight. Both dh and I have medical conditions for which we were prescribed vit d3, every day as well as other meds. Otherwise we wouldnt.have thought it necessary. Whereas the sunscreen message gets through loud and clear. The govt is irresponsible not to mention this, when they are telling us to stay at home/indoors

Diana, we have to have her retested in 7 weeks. Her Grandmother is deficient, although again no idea why. It's very worrying.

Daily dose should be 4000 IU in the winter

You really don't need to take it if you are getting at least 30 mins of sun (without lotion) in the summer

This is long but if you watch it, you will never go a winter without supplementing Vit D