Placebo Controlled RCT shows treatment with D helps Covid-19

But sadly, another controlled trial shows no benefit. I'll cover that in the next post. Skim thru to onlyread main points which are in bold.

Most of the studies on Vitamin D have been observational, though there have been a few controlled trials, and they were in favor of D. Now there is one more, out of India. 16 in intervention group, 24 in the control. One inflammatory marker was reduced in the D group, and 63% were virus negative by 21 days, vs 21% in the control group. They gave 60,000 IU day for 7 days, and repeated if blood levels did not reach 50 ng/ml! Wow, those were some big doses. For these patients in the hospital with Covid-19, the mean baseline D level was only 8.6 ng/ml, and the highest was 13. (By the end of the study, the control group was down to 5!) Amazingly considering the dosage, there was no difference in calcium or phosphorous between the groups, which is one of the warned against potential side effects of D supplementation. For the inflammatory markers, only fibrinogen was significantly reduced(P value .001). Others were reduced, but not significantly.
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/early/2020/11/12/postgradmedj-2020-139065.long
"Though India is a subtropical country with adequate sunlight, vitamin D deficiency is prevalent.18 However, there remain two concerns regarding vitamin D supplementation and disease outcomes. First, the appropriate levels of 25 (OH)D for its immunomodulatory effects are not known. Secondly, these effects may not be observed on bolus administration of vitamin D and may be more pronounced only on long-term maintenance of higher levels of 25 (OH)D levels. Therefore, we chose an arbitrary cut-off of 25 (OH)D levels>50 ng/ml to render immunomodulatory effect unlike 30 ng/ml that are purported to be adequate for bone metabolism. Moreover, it was imperative to achieve the desired levels [25 (OH)D levels>50 ng/ml] early, considering the outcome measure of SARS CoV-2 negativity. It was observed that following a single bolus dose of 540 000 IU of vitamin D3, mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations in those with vitamin D deficiency increased to >20 ng/mL by day 1 and peaked at 38.2±16.5 ng/mL at 1 week.19 Also, in another study a single dose of 600 000 IU of vitamin D3 raised serum 25(OH)D to >30 ng/mL early in elderly individuals and maintained for at least 4 weeks without any adverse event.20 However, a systematic review regarding high dose of vitamin D supplementation in the doses of 1,00,000IU suggested an inability to increase 25(OH)D >30 ng/ml.21 Therefore, we provided cholecalciferol supplementation of 60,000 IU daily (420 000 IU in the first week) in the present study that are higher than existing recommendations but were found to be safe as no episodes of hypercalcaemia were observed in the present study asserting the safety of short-term high doses of vitamin D supplementation...........................................
In conclusion, a high dose, oral vitamin D supplementation to augment 25(OH)D >50 ng/ml helped to achieve SARS-CoV-2 RNA negativity in greater proportion of asymptomatic vitamin D-deficient individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection along with a significant decrease in inflammatory marker. SARS-CoV-2 RNA negativity by cholecalciferol supplementation may help in reducing transmission rates of the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 infection. A reassurance for public health workers regarding greater likelihood of SARS CoV-2 RNA negativity in individuals receiving therapeutic cholecalciferol supplementation will be encouraging."

Info on the negative study to follow.

Well, it seems some governments are open to the evidence which has accumulated in the last 8 months for D vs Covid, and the last several years for D vs flu. I'm also glad to see it pointed out somewhere besides HWPC about the somewhat obvious elephant in the room that the populations hit hardest- nursing home residents- are also typically the lowest in vitamin D. As well as dark skinned folks. They are still very low on their doses, but this response is better than nothing. I have still seen no mention from our government on this subject, though I have- finally- in recent weeks seen one mention on local news and one on NBC nightly news. It should have been headline news, many months ago.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/covid-19-vitamin-d-delivered-220200137.html

"Free vitamin D deliveries will be offered to around 2.7 million vulnerable people by the government, officials have said.

Vitamin D is necessary for immune system health, leading experts to question whether it may help reduce the risk or severity of the coronavirus.

Care homes across England will be sent the supplement automatically for their residents, in plans revealed on Saturday................................People who are classed as extremely clinically vulnerable will be given the chance to opt into the scheme in order get a supply for their own homes.

The deliveries of a four-month supply of vitamin D will begin in January.

Everyone should take 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day between October and March, according to Public Health England, which stresses the importance of the elderly, those who do not go outdoors, or people with dark skin taking it................

There are also fears that as a result of lockdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people may be at a higher risk of deficiency.

Those who pay for the supplement are being advised to take it now, even if they are eligible for the free service.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Because of the incredible sacrifices made by the British people to control the virus, many of us have spent more time indoors this year and could be deficient in vitamin D.

"The government is taking action to ensure vulnerable individuals can access a free supply to last them through the darker winter months.

"This will support their general health, keep their bones and muscles healthy and crucially reduce the pressure on our NHS."

Research is ongoing into whether or not there are links between COVID-19 and vitamin D, including a project at Queen Mary University in London, which is looking to see if correcting a vitamin D deficiency can reduce the risk or severity of the virus, or any other respiratory infections.

Mr Hancock commissioned the research "to ensure we explore every potential opportunity to beat this virus"."

Buddy, I agree, that will be very interesting. There have been a couple of controlled trials(and seemingly endless observational trials) so far(like the OP of this thread for one), but we clearly need more, and I am glad they are doing this. The bad news will be if it shows no value(as I suspect the lower doses will), because we will lose a potential helper, but at least we will know. Assuming it is a well conducted trial, and free of such things as many in both groups were already supplementing, as evidenced by a baseline of 30 ng/ml or higher. And free of both groups being allowed to supplement on their own. I have found such things in ore than one supposedly RCT that showed no benefit. Hopefully, this one will be free of such errors.

If so, the good news will be if it shows some benefit, as it will be one more step to encourage folks to take this safe, cheap, simple step to improve their odds. But the bad news will be that it will confirm what I have been saying for a long time: IMO, based on available evidence on newer studies for CV-19 and previous studies on flu, they should have been publicizing this long ago. Just my opinion of course. But either way, I am glad they are doing the study. Thanks for the links.

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 11/30/2020 12:04:43 PM (GMT-7)

Here is a study I would like to see done among my friends and acquantences: of those of us who have had a severe case of Covid-19, or of our friends/relatives/people we know who have had a severe case and/or died of Covid, how many of those have had their vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc levels aggressively looked into and supplemented unless already high? How many have had high dose supplementation of any or all of these? How many(probably zero) were treated with IV vitamin C? How many were taking a good amount of D before diagnoses, or how many were given high dose D upon diagnoses? I'm willing to bet very darn few.

Buddy Blank said...
I'm not sure if you saw this Bill, but, if not, here you go. It is an hour long, and quite good.

"Professor Roger Seheult, MD explains the important role Vitamin D may have in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Dr. Seheult illustrates how Vitamin D works, summarizes the best available data and clinical trials on vitamin D, and discusses vitamin D dosage recommendations."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2mlz-xdpg

Buddy, I have not seen it, I will give it a look, looks interesting. Thanks for the link.