And if you convert all the letters in his name to Hebrew characters (via a Latin transliteration) the gammatria value adds up to 666.
Conincidence? I think not! 
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Scott, I just googled to,see what was out there, and what I found suggests that the failure to differentiate between correlation and causation is a big issue, as well as interpreting what studies are actually saying. The other question that arises is in judging whether a study is good, bad, or indifferent.
For example, one study sited that 11 patients with low levels of vit D required ICU care vs 4 with normal limits. The immediate problems you might see with the study is first, the small number cited, with chance playing a big role in the results. Second, the lack of matching other risk factors and co-morbid conditions. Along with that, older patients with poor nutrition and little outdoor activity associated with vitamin D production might be over-represented in the low vit D group.
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Randy. We can start here but there are many studies linking Vitamin d status and ARDS outcomes. It pretty clear that this disease is mainly effecting elderly populations and others particularly metabolic disease disorder vascular disease and those with high BMI which makes sense due to the targeting of the Ace 2 receptor. It is very interesting that the vast majority of healthy people are not effected by this virus at all. There must be a particular set of conditions that allow the great majority of people to resist this virus while making a small minority extremely susceptible to it. It is also interesting that we are in general less susceptible to viruses such as the flu during sunny warm summer months. It seems to me that everyone but particularly those at risk should be supplementing with vitamin d. I am not suggesting that vitamin d is a cure but it is very likely to be beneficial to the highest risk.
So where is the recommendation?
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Thanks. I have seen suggestions of this, but have not read of any official ones in Up to Date (a resource for healthcare) either. Iâll read it and get back to you. Have you inquired with CDC or NIH or WHO yet? I think there are some FAQs.
Here is a WHO discussion of Vit D supplementation for prevention of respiratory infections, especially in third world countries (note the WHO is very active in poor countries, making it doubly important to continue their funding, and not politicize it on one issue, in my opinion)
https://www.who.int/elena/titles/commentary/vitamind_pneumonia_children/en/
My suspicion is WHO is very leery of making recommendations that have no research specifically in Covid, but Iâm not sure. If you see something more, Iâd appreciate it.
Addendum: so far, all I have found is very small, observational studies (not blinded or prospective). I will need to look more, but I think that may be why there is no official guideline.
The WHO article also observed, even regarding the more general review, âIt is important to note that most reviews reported significant heterogeneity, which may make the generalizability of the results difficult. This heterogeneity may be due to several reasons, including some publication bias, but also methodological issues, such as low numbers of trials, vitamin D supplementation regime used and heterogeneity of the participantsâ characteristics.â
It reminds me of the widely disparate results in Vit A regarding lung disease. Itâs so hard to quantify and predict.
It is certainly something that runs low the northern latitudes anywayâso it will be something to watch.
Thank you for your service.
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Part of the confusion is because people are neglecting the âweightier matters of the lawâ (to borrow a New Testament phrase).
People are focusing on a minor things, masks, and completely ignoring the shelter-in-place house arrest and the forced unemployment of people who want to work.
These things were put in place to slow the spread of Covid-19 to a level below the healthcare systems capabilities. That was reasonable and successful. It was called âflatten the curve.â And the curve was flattened.
Then the rationale changed. And people are now told their jobs arenât âessential,â so they arenât allowed to earn a living. They are put on the government payments, when many would rather work.
Things got so unreasonable that Rhode Island police were stopping New York cars just based on their license tags.
So, Chris, donât join the chorus who just want to talk about masks, because masks are âeasy,â look at the loss of freedom and look at the bait and switch from âflatten the curveâ to âlock down until there is vaccine no matter how much economic destruction that causes.â
No, I do not reject these things.
I reject forcing well people into house arrest, poverty, and reliance on the government dole.
That is very kind of you. Itâs strange, though; clinic based physicians are not as at risk (yet; hopefully a surge does not come). Itâs the hospital workers, from cleaners to ICU nurses and docs, who get more exposure. My sister is a nurse who regularly cares for them. Cleaners are paid little, recognized less, and exposed more than I am currently:
Thanks for your discussion. I do have family members who agree with you. I assure you though, I am endeavoring to discuss things seriously and respectfully.
I honestly donât think this issue is about freedom. Itâs about the science. There are valid arguments that restrictions will be too dangerous in some cases. We can disagree and discuss what the best balance is between economics and healthcare, though. I think we will only really know in retrospect. I donât think anyone, on either side, has any bad intent. Another family member of mine attended a rally against Whitmer last week.
Thank you.
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That would be wonderful, but I donât think one must be cynical to think that some see a crisis as an opportunity (especially in an election year).
My niece is an emergency room physician in South Florida and has also been involved in drive up testing. I have a picture of her with a swab up the nose of a driver.
Certainly a large part of this discussion is science, but the âdismal scienceâ (economics) has a large role. And, as your relative likely knows, government responses such as those freedoms lost in Michigan (you canât go to your lake cabin to isolate; you canât use a motor boat on a lake) are inexplicable.
I am watching BBC now at home, and the South African response to Covid-19 is being discussed. The government chose to respond, in part, by banning sales of cigarettes and alcohol. Strange, isnât it?
Yes, a âbrain biopsy,â so to speak, as I call those types of respiratory pathogen exams! Itâs not much fun.
Yes, thatâs absolutely true. I think that it has to do with arguments from science though on either side. That is why I donât think freedom is an ingredient. It is looking out for the least of these from both sides-not about why I feel restricted. My family member who protested Whitmer is (I think) worried about those who lose income (not freedom of herself). Whitmer and Fauci, CDC and WHO are afraid of the 1.8 million who may die if we are not responsible with our vectors. We are all surgeons, so to speak, in the experimental operating room of Covid.
You will be able to as of May 31 in the upper 2/3 of the state (from my understanding; I havenât read the updated statement yet). If you think of it, Whitmer has nothing to gain, and everything to lose, to popularity here. I did not vote for her, but do think that good intent is most reasonable here. Traveling long distances increases risk. BBC has a good article on the reason for banning alcohol and cigarettes. South Africa coronavirus lockdown: Is the alcohol ban working? Both raise the risk of Covid complications, but there are other reasons. Maybe you can post the summary when youâre finished.
Thanks.
Here is a summary of some studies on COVID. Looks pretty inconclusive, so that is probably why you arenât seeing government agencies pushing it.
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Good article! Forbes has been publishing some very good ones!
Thanks.
Hi Randy and Christy. Thank you. Well Forbes? Thats not a medical journal? better to go to the medcal journals than look at the general media for medical information. There is a great deal of misinformation in the media.
The Tilda study and a number of other studies show risk for the vitamin d deficiency in ARDS and other viral respiratory conditions. I am not saying at all that this time is a cure but that it is likely a factor that increases risk. There is no risk for taking vitamin d and most people up in the high risk categories metabolic disease vascular disease and high BMI would benefit from taking the vitamin d regardless of Covid. Itâs pretty clear that this virus is specifically attacking these unhealthy populations likely due to the Ace 2 ras involvement and leaving the great majority of healthy individuals unaffected. If vitamin d supplementation is beneficial to Covid all the better but It will then also save lives by protecting from its other known benefits against vascular cardio and metabolic diseases. If we look at the demographics of the severly effected populations vs those not effected there seems to be a growing body of evidence linking susceptibility to the general health which vitamin d is just one of the factors. I find it hard to believe that our health authorities as well as the WHO are not recommending vitamin d supplementation particularly for the high risk population. There is no downside, highly availabiliy ,no risk low cost and the upside is good. Compare that to the very limited benefit of remdisivir reduced stay, no improvement in mortality, high cost limited availability and unknown side effects.
I think that the goal here is to save lives from covid and all disease correct?
This is why people question our medical authorities as they seem to be controlled by big pharma and have their own agenda.
Randy as a physician do you prescribe vitamin d to your patients now?
Christy, you are right of course. Consider also that conspiracy mongering and contempt for science and expertise are habits of mind that become ingrained over time. Then there is the simple matter that believers in Jesus are supposed to value truth, and cultivate ways of thinking that tend toward truth. It should be part of our witness to the world that we donât let emotion drive out reason, or treat facts like putty we can shape to suit our suspicions and resentments.
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Are you serious? Is there some reason why a conduct which can save 100s of thousands of lives in a yearâs span is not weighty?
The whole point of a mask policy is that it enables the thing that you and all of us hold dearârestarting most of our economic activityâwhile also minimizing the loss of life due to asymptomatic spread of coronavirus.
Which you and I also hold dear.
Masks are the way that we get to have our cake (economic activity) and eat it, too (minimize coronavirus spread).
In the absence of widespread mask usage, we are forced into the terrible choice between restarting our economy at the cost of tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives vs. staying closed and seeing our economy crushed.
Why force everyone to make such a horrible choice, when a simple practice can help us reach both goals?
For someone who supports seat belt laws and speed limits (which save lives at the expense of some personal inconvenience) not to support a mask policy is utterly nonsensical.
If you cannot see such logic, thereâs no point in continuing the conversation.
And please, will you voluntarily wear a mask in public for the sake of loving your neighbor, as Christ commanded us?
Best,
Chris
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Mask regulations can help save tens if not hundreds of thousands of American lives as we reopen the economy. By sharply reducing COVID risks, mask regulations can help accelerate the return to economic vitality.
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I am not forcing anyone to make a choice, rather I am saying that people should have a choice.
I am on the side of mask wearing being voluntary, a choice, rather than dictated by law and required under penalty of imprisonment.
Of course, a business is free to require the wearing of masks as a condition of receiving their services (for customers) or as a condition of employment.
People act like wearing a mask is a personal safety choice like wearing a seatbelt. As I understand it, the whole point is to prevent possible infections from spreading to others. Being required to wear a mask is a precaution designed to protect you from charges of being negligent. It is more analogous to being required or asked to put a fence around your pool, keep your dog on a leash in the park, lock firearms in a safe when not in use, put children in child safety restraints in the car, enforcing check-in systems for adults in school or childcare areas. I donât see how any of those things, or requiring mask-wearing, infringes on actual rights like free speech, exercise of religion, assembly, etc . In society you are rarely free to whatever you want. That doesnât mean your rights are being violated. Also, none of those things I mentioned are motivated by âfear.â I didnât put my kids in child safety seats because I was constantly living in fear of a car accident. I did it because I was a responsible parent who cared about their protection and well-being.
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I had read several articles noting the possible value of Vitamin D in this pandemic.
My wife was Vitamin D deficient, so she has taken it for years. I added it to my daily meds a few weeks ago (after reading the articles) and suggested it to my daughter with the compromised immune system.
Well, Christy, I donât agree with all your examples as being reasonable.
What good is a firearm locked in a safe? All my weapons are unloaded and out of safes except for the one pistol that is both loaded and close.