Vitamin D therapy reduces Covid fatalities. Time for a VitD trial.Results in 4 weeks.

[Bettertobehealthy]

Following my earlier posts here on Mumsnet regarding the use of Vitamin D3 and beneficial effects against Covid. A new Lancet paper (Pre-print of study) of 20th Oct papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3690902

It states: ' Treatment with vitamin D, regardless of baseline serum vitamin D levels, appears to be associated with a reduced risk of mortality in acute in-patients admitted with Covid-19 '

 This is a further indication that we are missing a great opportunity to cut our death rates and severity of illness when infected.   The retrospective study was carried out on the data of over 900 hospitalised patients from Leicester, Tameside and Preston hospital trusts.  Treatments with Vitamin D were either 800 IU -2000 IU   i.e maintenance doses, or  bolus doses of up to 300,000 IU  i.e. shots  

I have been proposing a trial be carried out, of Vitamin D3  loading doses for people that have just been diagnosed, i.e. hopefully at an early stage of illness prior to hospitalisation. The dose levels are perfectly safe for the overwhelming majority.  

The data from a pilot study in Spain (Cordoba Hospital)    <a class="break-all" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456194/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456194/</a> 
which used a Vitamin D derivative,  532 microgram doses of 25hydroxyD3 (i.e.  calciferol, or calcidiol) showed remarkable results.  A 25 fold reduction in patients requiring ICU after admission to hospital, when treated with 25hydroxyD3.   We can try to replicate that success using cholecalciferol ( Vit D3 supplement) ,  available  on the high street, online  etc etc.    By using daily doses of 10,000 IU   (250 microgram)  for 14 days upon diagnosis. Followed by  5000 IU daily for another 14 days .       At the end of this 28 day period , we should see a marked difference in outcomes between treated and untreated Covid positive people.  The two studies mentioned above should give us great hope, that this idea is correct.   Cholecalciferol is rapidly converted in the liver to  25hydroxyD3 (calciferol, ie. calcidiol) .  The half life of cholecalciferol is 24 hrs in the blood. 

  About a month ago I posted a more detailed explanation of this suggested trial here   in "general health".    <a class="break-all" href="https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4039300-A-Strategy-to-Limit-deaths-Caused-by-Covid19-Using-Vitamin-D-Therapy" target="_blank">www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4039300-A-Strategy-to-Limit-deaths-Caused-by-Covid19-Using-Vitamin-D-Therapy</a> 
            I have been trying to  interest  the health service/gov / parliament/  even media outlets to try and get this trial instigated.  The cost of the trial would be less that the cost of treating just one person that has complications from a stay in ICU. The contact data of Covid positive tested people would be required So the gov. needs to agree. Results should start to be known within 4 weeks.  The trial would involve sending  28 days worth of doses of VitD3  ( total cost £2 per person )  to  a selected sample of  Covid positive people, then, phoning the treated and untreated on a weekly basis, to establish whether they were still at home isolating or  hospitalised, or sent to ICU, or passed away.  The sample of people would be chosen to avoid those rare individuals with hypercalcaemic conditions  or possible contra-indications  such as  those on treatment with digoxin.  Selecting older individuals, such as over 50's, would give quicker results.     

 IF any readers here, can add their input to getting such a  trial done, maybe forward this idea to perhaps some official body, media outlet etc,  then please do. 
         Within a few weeks this could well give this country a way to cut many deaths, prevent ICU's being filled , reduce the need for lockdowns and reduce hospitalisations. At a cost that is insignificant when compared to the potential benefit.  We should start this trial immediately, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. 
As a private individual, retired, I have no financial interest in VitD . I have  posted quite a bit about the physiology of VitD here on Mumsnet, over quite a number of years. 

Here is a thread where I posted quite a bit of detail about Vit D , and why we need it, why we are mostly too low, and what we can do about it. It is a long read , but might be helpful to some.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2841497-If-you-are-vitamin-D-deficient-what-have-you-been-prescribed

Best of luck to all
BTBH.
.

All I know I that our whole family has reported feeling so much better since we've been taking 200iu (1000 for ds) of Vit D every day since August.

I'm in Scotland, previously shielding. Letter came last week from the Scottish Government giving general advice for shielded people but also offering me a free supply of Vitamin D tablets.

I've taken them up of course but also ordered more for the rest of the family.

Maybe a similar approach should be take by the English government?

Details on how to sign up for the trial www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2020/smd/clinical-trial-to-investigate-whether-vitamin-d-protects-against-covid-19.html

I have just emailed about the qmul trial and had an automatic reply back that the deadline has passed, but there is another that you can take part in www.qmul.ac.uk/covidence/ which is questionnaire based (not involving vitd unfortunately).

This is one time when I believe conspiracy theories are justified. The reason we do not have an intervention trial in place is that drug companies can not make money from vitamin D

How do you explain dexamethasone being current drug of choice? That is not a money spinner and yet here we are.

Not all trials are run by drug companies.

ok , thanks for your help. I guess I should just shut up and recognise that the situation is not serious enough to merit just getting on with it.

It's not as easy as you think, as How2Help points out. But more... do you really think that the global pool of health science is not looking at ALL possibilities? That you have come up with something they haven't htought of?

No? Of course you don't. You've linked to and quoted studies that gave you the idea in the first place. the QMD trial is starting, many others across the world too! If there is anything in it and if it can be done safely, we will be told...

Personally I already regard it as unethical for doctors not to treat with vitamin D. However doctors who did this could find they faced disciplinary action so few would risk it. There's a reason for that, as has been mentioned but here's the full list

www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-side-effects#Deficiency-and-toxicity

And the 'safe' supplementation limits of 10mcg probably won't be enough to help with covid. Which is why we were all allowed out for exercise over summer and are now being advised, via .gov.uk pages and NHS sites, to take supplements over winter. For some vitamin D supplementation will be free

gov.wales/vitamin-d-advice-everyone-coronavirus

Personally I think more should be done to promote the NHS' existing OWN recommendation that everyone takea vitamin D between Oct-Mar because we are MOST LIKELY deficient. Many people have no idea this is recommended.

Especially given that most people will not have spent enough time outdoors this year. I know I feel less resilient than previous years.

The vitamin D advice by NHS that I mentiom above has existed for several years, it is now new.

not new

@delatron did you get any feedback on whether vit D levels had an effect on breast cancer outcomes?

@How2Help Well known tactic - let one through now and then so you distract attention from the multitude not studied. Plus no-one really thought it would do much so safe to include without affecting profits.

@CuriousaboutSamphire Link to a site that doesnt require you to accept paid adds if you want anyone to read it. Then explain why complications that might occur if you took something for months are relevant to someone taking a dose for a week or two after contracting a serious illness - when you should know that vitamin D stores are depleted in serious illness. And while you are at it explain why the risks you want to highlight are worse than death.

Yes @AwaAnBileYerHeid my oncologist wrote a paper on it. Incidence of death (after a certain amount of years) was reduced in those who had optimum levels of vitamin D at time of diagnosis. I’ll try and dig it out. Not sure about peer review, meta analysis etc but there are lots of studies out there to support these findings.

I had already read about vitamin D so was dosing up when I was diagnosed. My levels were quite reasonable when they tested me. I make sure now they stay in the optimum range now due to all the research I’ve seen about cancer and vitamin D. I had cancer 10 years ago now.

And @CuriousaboutSamphire of course science has thought about it - twitter was awash with it at one stage. The question is not whether scientists have thought of it but why there are trails elsewhere but NOT in this country. The one we have is prevention not treatment

I can’t do links but this was the conclusion of the study. It found lower levels of Vitamin D in patients with advanced breast cancer versus early stage. That more research was needed to find out why. Etc.

Link to a site that doesnt require you to accept paid adds if you want anyone to read it. ???? Didn't do that for me. Healthline is littered with ads but I use Incognito browsing, maybe that makes a difference!

And while you are at it explain why the risks you want to highlight are worse than death. Maybe because some stuides show ncreased rates of all sorts of cancers, and even higher morbidity!

The question is not whether scientists have thought of it but why there are trails elsewhere but NOT in this country. The one we have is prevention not treatment Because the existing advice is already there? The UK daily dose recommendation was raised a while ago (I have ME, so I know about that!). And there is no evidence for higher supplementation that doesn't chance increase in other health risks. We'll get the benefit of all trial research... they won't keep it secret!

How hard would it be for the government to run a campaign on this (urgently) and have it as protocol in Care Homes to give patients vitamin D?

Regarding the Spanish study conducted by Castillo et al (2020), NICE has this to say about it:

"A new study (Castillo et al. 2020) found that vitamin D supplementation in hospitalised adults with COVID-19 may reduce admission to intensive care. However, the study has many confounders so the results should be interpreted with caution. The clinical management of patients with COVID-19 should not be changed based on the results of this study"

This can be found in the document published on 28 Sept, linked to at the bottom of this page: www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/chapter/Key-messages

Hear hear

@ChocsAway2 - the problem with the NHS advice is that it hasn't kept pace with research over the last 5 or so years. If you watch the lecture by Ivor Cummings linked to below, you'll see a higher dose is required - particularly for people who are already low or deficient. It doesn't mention K2. The language was also weak. Not compelling.

@Curiousaboutsamphire - the point is that 3-400 people are currently dying per day in the UK. They are not being given high doses of vitamin D as per the Spanish trial.
9 months of data from this pandemic with numerous studies around the world showing positive outcomes if the patient isn't low on vitamin D. Yet an enormous proportion of the UK population is going into this second wave of a pandemic still low or deficient!
How does it serve our nation to keep the population low or deficient? If vitamin D aids the immune response, particularly for respiratory illness (and that appears generally accepted as a fact), why are so many in the UK allowed to remain low and deficient?

Yes we will continually defer to (slow and outdated) NICE guidelines in this country unfortunately. I remember them denying breast cancer treatment that would save lives of Stage 4 patients because of the cost.

Vitamin D is cheap and not risky. There have been so many studies on this yet we choose not to act on it.

I think the best we can do is spread the word amongst family and friends. I have been doing this.

I love all the work you do in this area @Bettertobehealthy it must be so frustrating for you that people just shut the research down.

Woah!

VItamin D will not prevent anyone catching covid, even its known efficacy is limited and it is not without its own risks. Don't hang your hopes on it. It will disappoint you!

Vitamin D supplements are cheaply and easily available and advised by the NHS over winter for us all. They have long been built into care pathways... look to those who should follow them for answers!

@Delatron - good point, it wouldn't be hard at all for the government to run an urgent campaign and have it administered in care homes. That's the golden question, why aren't they?
I have an example of the opposite. When twitter was awash with vitamin D studies in May/June, the NHS put out an official tweet saying that there is no evidence that vitamin D helps against Covid.
I took a screenshot of it because it was such dangerously stupid advice. There's bound to be an inquiry at the end of this.

Nobody said it would prevent you from catching COVID. It helps improve the outcome of many respiratory diseases...

We have discussed the safe levels. What we do know for sure is that being deficient will have a negative effect on your health.

@Curiousaboutsamphire - why are you saying vitamin D doesn't guard against catching it, when recent research studies say it does?
I refer you to the Israeli study.
I actually think you are dangerous and would best serve the users of MN by not posting on vitamin D threads. I'm not the MN thread police and I hate saying that, as this should be an open and balanced discussion, but you are stating things as facts and you aren't accurate or open-minded. I also don't feel you're reading the latest studies. Please watch the lecture by Ivor Cummings linked to below, check out his expert sources.