Vitamin D fans (myself included) - bad news

[bobbiester]

The much talked about Nogués et al preprint on "Calcifediol Treatment and COVID-19-Related Outcomes" - where they claimed to have randomly allocated patients to either receive Vitamin D or not - has been taken down by The Lancet...

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3771318

"We have removed this preprint due to concerns about the description of the research in this paper. This has led us to initiate an investigation into this study."

As I've said in another thread - I'm taking loads of vitamin D - but the evidence that it's an effective treatment for COVID-19 is still lacking.

So book your vaccines folks - it's the one thing you can stick into your body that has been shown to substantially reduce your risk of getting ill from COVID-19!!

I dont think it was ever thought to cure covid. More that a low level 9f vitamin D could make u more susceptible to a more severe case. That was my understanding having been obsessed with covid 19 to begin with

I wonder if people think vitamin d is the answer instead of getting the vaccine... And that is why it's been taken down

Largest randomized-controlled trial to date on vitamin D and COVID-19 has now been published. Headline finding: no benefit for vitamin D in large doses: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776738?guestAccessKey=f5804d82-41ff-44f8-829f-90c98f52e117&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_content=olf&utm_term=021721

@31RooCambon

I dont think it was ever thought to cure covid. More that a low level 9f vitamin D could make u more susceptible to a more severe case. That was my understanding having been obsessed with covid 19 to begin with

Mostly - but some people were claiming it could treat COVID - citing that Spanish study.

Was shocked at the methodological issues in that paper

For anyone interested this is a good Twitter summary
twitter.com/fperrywilson/status/1360944814271979523

[quote CoffeeandCroissant]Largest randomized-controlled trial to date on vitamin D and COVID-19 has now been published. Headline finding: no benefit for vitamin D in large doses: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776738?guestAccessKey=f5804d82-41ff-44f8-829f-90c98f52e117&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_content=olf&utm_term=021721[/quote]
That’s a single large dose administered to people already hospitalised with Covid, so as a treatment. I’ve only ever understood that there was potentially a link between low levels of vitamin D and developing serious disease.

This is as a treatment, not a preventative? That doesn't mean Vit D3 isn't very useful as a preventative measure for those who are deficient.

@CrunchyCarrot

This is as a treatment, not a preventative? That doesn't mean Vit D3 isn't very useful as a preventative measure for those who are deficient.

Yes - this retracted preprint was about Vitamin D as a treatment.

However, when it comes to vitamin D as a preventative measure - while there is correlational evidence that people with lower circulating levels of vitamin D are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19, there is no good experimental evidence showing that taking supplements can lower this risk.

It might seem obvious that it should - but we need actual evidence.

The problem is that there is a negative association between BMI and vitamin D levels. High BMI is associated with low vitamin D levels. So the apparent protective effect of vitamin D might be entirely secondary to this. If this risk is due to high BMI, taking vitamin D won't lower it.

Either way only about a month to go in the UK before natural vitamin D returns.

@2X4B523P

Either way only about a month to go in the UK before natural vitamin D returns.

Though so many people are now so depleted it will make little difference.

Sorry I don't have a share token but saw this headline about a French nasal spray trialled at a festival which prevents covid (presumably with caveats about different transmission routes and correct usage www.thetimes.co.uk/article/festivalgoers-nasal-spray-avoided-covid-infection-dsd2mpsm7

Interesting. I must say though, since I started taking a vitamin D supplement I’ve noticed a massive improvement in my overall health so it hasn’t all been a waste!

This post reads like a government comms message.

My doctor asked me to take Vit D years ago for various reasons, so no change for me either. I didn't notice any change in how I felt but as BME with family history of osteoporosis, I still take it.

I take a daily vit D tablet. I still got Covid, and was no more ill than my partner, who doesn’t take it.

I've been taking vit D for many years, on G.P.'s advice.
What's really pissed me off is the tub that used to cost c.90p is now
c. £6 because of the hype.

@Georgyporky

I've been taking vit D for many years, on G.P.'s advice. What's really pissed me off is the tub that used to cost c.90p is now c. £6 because of the hype.

Oh dear, is that the Valupak? Mum will have a fit and stop taking it.

I take a different one.

Interesting. I’ve had covid. Was asymptomatic. No symptoms at all that I can think of. I’m 40 now was 39 when I had it, low BMI, mild asthma. However, I have very low levels of vitamin d. Always have since my teens. I take very high strength prescription vitamin D, but stopped taking it a year ago as was pregnant and I was 8 months pregnant when I got covid, so about 9 months off the vitamin d. Had levels checked when baby was 6 months and told levels were very low again.
For me low levels of vit D didn’t mean severe disease from covid, but that obviously doesn’t mean there’s definitely no link.

I'm in Ireland and a scientist, think he's an immunologist but not sure, on the radio said that they have found Iron levels more relevant than Vit D levels as an indicator for severe Covid.
He still advocated Vit D supplements because geography, but said people should also be aware of their iron levels and food intake and consider supplements of their levels are low.

In this study the treatment group were more likely to be male, black, diabetic, have hypertension and were heavier - all factors known to be associated with poor outcomes in covid. This is a problem with simple randomisation and a small sample, but a problem that could have been at least partially avoided by using a stratified sample. Sample is unfortunately too small to compare outcomes within subgroups.

They were given a single dose on average 10 days after symptoms developed. While this lifted them out of severe deficiency it isnt necessarily enough to be beneficial. They had more deaths but less need for oxygen and fewer admissions to ICU.

Disappointing study - but given the considerable differences between treatment and control group it would have to have had massive benefit to be detected. Not enough to stop me taking vitamin D.

I saw a hideous video on Twitter a month or two ago of a family removing their father from an NHS hospital bed. He was linked up to breathing apparatus and the doctor was practically in tears trying to convince the family to leave their father there. He had COVID.

The person filming, presumably a family member, was demanding to know why the doctor wasn't treating the patient with Vitamin C and D. I wonder how many people think that high doses of vitamins will cure it?

FWIW I talk Vitamin D and multivitamin tablets daily, but just to make doubly sure I've had the vaccine too. Can't be too careful.

Vit D changed my winters - I started taking it about 5 years ago due to menopausal stuff. Take it anyway, it's good.

@M0rT

I'm in Ireland and a scientist, think he's an immunologist but not sure, on the radio said that they have found Iron levels more relevant than Vit D levels as an indicator for severe Covid. He still advocated Vit D supplements because geography, but said people should also be aware of their iron levels and food intake and consider supplements of their levels are low.

Thank you for the heads up re: iron levels. I'm low on iron, have been taking vitamin D and keep forgetting the iron. I found this Chinese research study with similar findings:

Serum Iron Level as a Potential Predictor of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity and Mortality: A Retrospective Study
academic.oup.com/ofid/article/7/7/ofaa250/5860447

The way I understand it is, Vitamin D is good for your immunity and because we have all been inside more than we would normally be, it's a very good idea.
I have been taking it for a year now and had my healthiest year yet. Before I started taking the vitamins I'm taking now, my immunity was awful.

www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-rapid-covid-19-guidance-on-vitamin-d-published-by-nice-phe-and-sacn/?cli_action=1613720220.476

Excellent article -please read all the way through.

Vit D certainly isn't a covid treatment, but certainly good to take to boost immunity generally, also helps with hormone production.