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Flu shot

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by tochatihu, Jan 13, 2018.

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  1. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Inert virus@197. I may have been unclear. I do not assert that vaxx gave me the hacks. Rather, as widely stated elsewhere, this vaccination (this year) has proven to be much less than 50% effective.
     
    #201 tochatihu, Mar 1, 2018
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  2. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    #202 bwilson4web, Apr 7, 2018
  3. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    Results of a double blind randomized study of vitamin D supplementation on the incidence of reported cold/influenza symptoms according to season.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870688/

    [​IMG]

    The dark bars are the control group, while the gray bars are the vitamin D supplementation group.

    The placebo group showed the regular incidence of cold/influenza symptoms that peaked in the winter. The vitamin D supplement group (2000 IU/day) experienced about 1/10 as many incidences in winter, almost eliminating the seasonality.

    I note that 2000 IU/day is a moderate dosage, with 8000 IU/day being a more typical value required for most people to reach maximum protective effect.

    More extensive discussion is available at Epidemic influenza and vitamin D
     
    #203 RobH, Apr 7, 2018
  4. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Vitamin D supplements are not expensive and I see no strong evidence of overdosing problems in the 8000 IU range mentioned above. Weak evidence relates to having too much calcium in blood, which is problematic for arteriosclerosis. If that is a problem for you.

    Vitamin D levels are very strongly related to sunlight exposure which is seasonal, geographic and under further behavioral control. I can pose no objection to taking pills in winter, or more generally for folks who avoid sunlight. Whether you prefer WebMD ~1000 IU/day or 8000 (as above) would be a personal decision.
     
    #204 tochatihu, Apr 8, 2018
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  5. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    As @tochatihu suggests, it could be dangerous to prescribe to a wide audience in general terms the advantages of something which would be wrong/dangerous for a few who might have health problems incompatible with with that supplement - no matter how innocuous it may seem to you.
     
    #205 RCO, Apr 8, 2018
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    all in all, the flu season seems to have turned out pretty well.
     
    #206 bisco, Apr 8, 2018
  7. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    #207 Trollbait, Apr 8, 2018
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    absolutely, but that is true for any year.
     
    #208 bisco, Apr 8, 2018
  9. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Across years 4 thousand to 50 thousand flu (or secondary) deaths in US; quarter million to half million globally. This year was towards the high side in US.

    There are certainly years with a second peak of infection etc. 1918 Spanish flu was famous for that. First peak was in US soldiers (in Kansas?) not yet sent to war. It was called Spanish because of a secondary peak there. Also because countries including US were under wartime media censorship and not reporting such.

    1918 epidemic was half million dead in US and 20 to 50 million globally. Roughly speaking such an epidemic is 100 times worse than a routine year.
     
    #209 tochatihu, Apr 8, 2018
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  10. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    The 8000 number for vitamin D supplementation that I mentioned back in post #203 is not a recommendation. It is a statistical result from analyzing the blood tests and reported dosages in the Grassroots cohort.

    There is an excellent blog entry at The Real RDA for Vitamin D is 10 Times Higher Than Currently Recommended - GrassrootsHealth . Among the dosage levels mentioned are 7000 IU/day for 97.5% of the general population to reach 20 ng/ml (HALF the Grassroots minimum recommendation!), and 12000 IU/day to reach 40 ng/ml. But those are just statistical calculations about the "average" person. The important measure is blood level achieved, which should be 40-60 ng/ml (150-150 nmol/L). Note that ng/ml is used in the US, and nmol/L is used everywhere else.

    My endocrinologist prescribed D3 at 50,000 IU/day for me. His instructions included not taking any supplemental calcium, and adding vitamin K2. But then he was concerned about heart disease, not flu. Less flu is just a side effect
     
    #210 RobH, Apr 12, 2018
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  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    #211 ChapmanF, Oct 6, 2022
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