Matt Hancock acting "fast"

[DianaT1969]

Government have done a U turn on vitamin D and will send boxes direct to care homes and ECV.
Hancock claiming he's acting fast in the face of recent mounting evidence that vitamin D offers protection against Coronavirus. Fast??
I'm so angry. The incredible results of vitamin D as treatment in Cordoba were published in early September.
@MN - sorry can I get this moved to Coronavirus topic please? MN app on android won't allow any other topic than chat.

I took a combined calcium magnesium and vitD supplement anyway but may need to add a D on its own to get the full recommended amount.

@zaffa No you don't need both. One (D3) is at the stage where the body can use it quickly so it starts to work in a few days. The other (D2) just takes the body those few extra days to process it. But once you are on a steady daily dose (important to take it every day and not dose up to compensate) whichever one you take doesn't matter.
I prefer D3 myself.

@planningaheadtoday thank you! I've ordered some at 4000iu for myself (who doesn't really leave the house as WFH) and DH who is working in a school so much more likely to bring germs in (and we have a baby in nursery and DSS at secondary....) not sure about supplements for DD yet because she's under one but I will speak with the doctors as she has milk and egg allergies and with the reduction in formula milk may need to supplement anyway as she may not get enough naturally.

Thank goodness for Matt Hancock! Where on earth would we be without the forward thinking fast acting members of this government?! 😳

@pinpinbin

Fast?! my family and I have been taking extra bit D since March!!

Yes we all have too. This information was available right from the start.

Taking 'medical' advice from random posters on the internet? 😂
Recommended daily dosage is 400IU
Take advice only from those that you trust such as your GP or a pharmacist.

Zaffa... D2 is the plant form of vitamin D and D3 is the animal form. As we're animals, the D3 form is the most bioavailable, so get that if possible. It's usually made from sheep's lanolin from wool, so suitable for vegetarians, but there may be vegan forms of D3 available... I think they're either genetically engineered or made from a type of lichen which produces D3. If you leave mushrooms out in the summer sun, they'll produce D2, albeit minuscule amounts.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations / links please? It’s a bit overwhelming!

I’ve been taking 400 IU but guessing that’s not enough? Does my mum need to check with her doctor before takes any more than that if she’s on other medication?

We've all taken vit d plus K2 and magnesium fir years, I buy my capsules from eBay in olive oil, (less inflammatory than sunflower oil) I've just reordered and noticed the price has gone up already.

I upped dh and I back in May thanks to mumsnet.

Dh was shielding so he might qualify for tablets too 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Myalternate - I admire your faith and trust in the NHS guidelines. It would be lovely to live a make believe world where all GPs are proactively testing for vitamin D and prescribing loading doses followed by maintenance doses that are up-to-date with current research on immunity.
Sadly, if the figure that 80% of Covid patients admitted to hospital are deficient or low in vitamin D (I haven't seen that figure published) then your fail-safe trustworthy system would appear to be failing, no?

I wonder though if the vitamin d deficiency is actually a determining factor of the severity of illness or just that 80% of the population is in fact vitamin d deficient and the people becoming unwell reflect that. Obviously either way as you say people need to supplement.

I've been taking it since March and told all my family to start as well.

OP, can you get the title changed to Matt Hancock "fast acting", would make him sound like a cure for the shits then.

So, I can expect a magic box of pills through the post then? Hmmm, I'll take a view on popping those.

@midnightstar66 I can't imagine that all the sunny countries are as deficient as we are and they've been hit hard? I know older people are more likely to be deficient so that could be why it's affecting them so badly

@midnightstar66 - absolutely good point and I think longer-term trials will determine that.
The Cordoba trial treated serious patients with a high dose of vitamin D on admission to hospital - regardless of their base level. So even if we do that until trials have time to work out the 'protection' factor of long-term preventative doses, we will cover all eventualities

You need to take D3, and should also take K2 (but not at the same time). If people want to take D3 ideally they should get their level tested beforehand. Not everyone may need to, although many do.

I'll bet the amount recommended by the govt is too low, but I"m prepared to be surprised!

I have been taking 4000 IU for some months as my levels keep dropping if I don't. But I test twice a year to check.

*not everyone may need to take D3, that should be.

@CrunchyCarrot why not at the same time? My vit d has vit k in the same tablet. Is that no good?

I take Vit D with K2 drops - have done for years. I don't understand why people have not been advised years ago to take Vit D, esp in the winter months. It's good for your immune system, your mental health, your bones... Why doesn't every doctor and health advisor advise it?

The only thing I can think of is that Vit D is toxic in high doses, so maybe they think the British public is thick enough to poison themselves?

It's about time the Gov started telling people to take responsibility for their own health - all this 'Hands, Face and Space' is all very well, but when you get Covid, the only thing that will save you is your immune system! Not the NHS, not the masks, - YOU.

Eat healthily. Stop smoking. Maintain a healthy weight. TAKE VIT D. Get fresh air and exercise.

Make it illegal to spit in public.

The advice given in March to stay indoors, exercise for an hour - WTF? Get the sun on your face. Get fresh air. Get out there. It's the best thing for your Physical and Health health.

[quote DianaT1969]@Myalternate - I admire your faith and trust in the NHS guidelines. It would be lovely to live a make believe world where all GPs are proactively testing for vitamin D and prescribing loading doses followed by maintenance doses that are up-to-date with current research on immunity.
Sadly, if the figure that 80% of Covid patients admitted to hospital are deficient or low in vitamin D (I haven't seen that figure published) then your fail-safe trustworthy system would appear to be failing, no?
[/quote]
Exactly. And those guidelines are only for those, in optimal health, not overweight etc. No thought on whether people with less than optimal health can even process the less bio available forms of supplements. Will have been tested on a male body and so forth.

As for not everyone needing to take d3, even if we’ve been in the sun in the summer months for sufficient times, reserves run out around Christmas. People in care homes don’t get the summer loading in the first instance.

The advice given in March to stay indoors, exercise for an hour

The hour was not advice, it was just something trotted out by Gove in an interview when he was asked how long he thought was reasonable.

Midnightstar66... in my humble ponderings, I've been wondering if we don't have a viral pandemic crisis of Sars-cov-2, but the primary pandemic crisis we have is actually acute vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency, and the virus is merely exploiting and colonising the "faultlines" in the health of both populations and individuals. Observational research is pointing towards those with lowest vitamin D having worse outcomes when they contract covid. Sub Saharan Africa (except for S Africa) seems to have been largely spared mass outbreaks and deaths from Covid. I know there's much less testing available compared to developed countries, but even so, there's no anecdotal reports of mass deaths and suffering coming out, as there were from Indian and South American slums. It's no co-incidence Africa is the sunniest continent. Covid death rates are typically in the hundreds in those countries, rather than in the tens or hundreds of thousands in affluent countries like the UK and US.

Also interestingly I read there was a large volcanic explosion in 1917, which put large amounts of ash into the atmosphere, the year before the Spanish flu outbreak, which would have meant that globally, people would have had lower vitamin D levels due to the UVB rays being partially blocked. That would have facilitated the mass spread of any emerging pathogenic/virulent viral strain as people's resistance was much lower. Also, in the early 20th century, people with TB were sent to sanitoria, where their beds were put out on the veranda for daily sunshine... people kind of knew about this back then, but didn't yet understand the scientific mechanisms behind it.

I've started it recently as I'm inside pretty much 24/7. Got the better you spray I think it is, vit d and k2