vitamin D crucial role in immunity - especially if you wear makeup. (!)

[wobblywindows]

I posted this on twitter, I don't know if I can get all of it in the OP.
twitter.com/TriciaGroom/status/1324276589459349505

I'm very grateful to mumsnet for pointing me towards Chris Martensen and this is my way of saying thanks, to mumsnet.

So today, I have a fabulous project only possible because I downloaded the PHWales dataset on 28May20.
Comparing age/sex profiles for cases for spring/summer quarters, supports vitamin D as crucial role in immunity. Graphs follow.

If you go here > public.tableau.com/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection#!/vizhome/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary < this is the graph today, (first graph) but in May it looked very different.

In May, there was such a difference between the sexes that I downloaded the data set and constructed my own graph to better examine that data. This is what I saw - (second graph)

I wondered what could cause such a difference ! I suspected iron needs, but I was open to other offers. Since then, research has indicated vitamin D plays a crucial role in deciding who gets ill. How could vitamin D be so different between male/female?

In winter and cold weather we all wrap up, so that often the only skin exposed is on our face and hands. But in warm weather other parts of the body are exposed to the sun - arms, legs. This is the same graph for June through to September - to the same scale.
(last graph)

In summer there is little difference between (male and female results), so why the difference in cold months? Faces. Makeup includes SPF - sun protection factors. If the only part of your skin exposed to the sun is covered in SPF = no vitamin D.

Most people in the U.K. who are of a certain age are advised to take Vitamin D throughout winter anyway. The potential impact on Coronavirus adds to that body of evidence.

The sun in the UK isn't strong enough frkm October to early March to allow the skin to make vitamin D, so neither men nor women will be making any in those months, and everyone should probably take a supplement.

You can’t make vitamin D in this country between October and March.

But yes vitamin D is absolutely crucial and we should all be taking a supplement in Winter.

I agree about vit d but dont agree re why more women than men are cases.
That is likely more about
Women in caring roles
-care homes
Pwrents
Nurses

Can someone explain how much vitamin D we should take and the difference between ug and IU?

I’m not an expert but I think the NHS recommendations are too low (and what they think the ideal range for vitamin D is). They recommend 400IU.

I personally take the Better You DLux vitamin D+k2 spray. It has 3000 IU of vitamin D3 which is 75ug.
I don’t remember to take it every day so I’m sure my risk of overdose is low! On this I had my levels checked last November and they we at the good/top end of the range.

If you want to err on the side of caution you could find one with a lower dose.
I have had breast cancer in the past and vitamin D is implicated in long term survival so I have to make sure I’m fully topped up!

UG and IU are just different units of measurement. So 75ug is 3000IU

I've been taking the vitabiotics extra strength stuff for 8 months, they're 2000 IU but I've ordered some extra strength 4000iu from Just Vitamins.

I'm a skincare nut and wear factor 50 on my face every day of the year.

Is it possible to take too much? I doubt I'm deficient as such as I've been taking Vitabiotics vit d since early March.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/

Maximum recommended daily dose is 4000 IU.

I use the BetterYou spray, that's 3000 IU. I also also take a multivitamin with 6ug, or 240 IU.

Vitamin D3 is meant to be better than D2. Taking it with Vitamin K helps.

The standard RDA put out by the NHS is 400 iu (10 mcg). That is far too low to ward off infections, it merely improves bone health at that level. Obviously that's important, but there's over 1000 genetic processes that rely on vitamin D, including activating key components of the immune system such as T cells, so you need to be replete in order for all of them to work properly. The upper recommended RDA is 4000 iu (100 mcg), which may not be enough for some people (BAME, elderly, overweight people, housebound people/shift workers etc), but it's a good ballpark recommendation for the general population who may have different needs/starting levels.

1 mcg/microgram - millionths of a gram/µg - Greek letter "mu" = 40 iu (international units). So multiply mcgs by 40 to get iu.

25 mcg = 1000 iu, 50 mcg = 2000 iu etc

Recommend that you start taking 4000 iu, then get tested in a few weeks to check you are on course for the optimum levels.

Direct to public NHS service available here for £29

www.vitamindtest.org.uk/

100 - 150 nmol/l is considered ideal and 75 nmol/l is considered the threshold between severe and mild covid.

Each 25 mcg/1000 iu increases your blood level by around 25 nmol/l (after around 12 weeks of taking it). So, based on average UK population levels of around 38 nmol/l, you'd want to be taking 75 - 100 mcg (3000 - 4000 iu), which would put you in the optimum range of 112 - 138 nmol/l.

Also recommend the DMinder app, which helps you track your vitamin D intake and can estimate your levels for you. You can input the supplements you take, the food you eat and the sunbathing sessions you have (March to Sept only in the UK, unless you go on a winter tropical sun holiday). It's free during the pandemic period, but the Pro version is normally only £1.99. If you do get a test, you can input the results into it as well.

dminder.ontometrics.com/