Post by DrSchadenfreude on Jan 14, 2021 13:11:48 GMT -5
I knew Dr. Michael Holick back in 1981, when he was my attending physician/supervisor at the Massachusetts General Hospital during my three month medical clerkship. He's the guy who first identified the structure of the 25-hydroxy Vitamin-D molecule (when he was a biochemistry graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.) Good guy. Brilliant but humble. Grew up in Montclair, NJ.
Not sure when Holick moved from Harvard/MGH to BU.
Boston University doctor: Vitamin D can help reduce coronavirus risk by 54%
www.bostonherald.com/2020/09/17/vitamin-d-can-help-reduce-coronavirus-risk-by-54-boston-university-doctor/
January 14, 2021
Dr. Michael Holick, professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine and his colleagues studied blood samples from Quest Diagnostics of more than 190,000 Americans from all 50 states and found that those who had deficient levels of vitamin D had 54% higher COVID positivity compared to those with adequate levels of vitamin D in the blood.
The risk of getting coronavirus continued to decline as vitamin D levels increased, the study, published in the Public Library of Science One peer-reviewed journal shows. “The higher your vitamin D status, lower was your risk,” Holick said.
The vitamin is easy to find and relatively cheap in drug stores, and taking vitamin D pills comes at no risk. “It’s perfectly safe,” Holick said. “It’s considered to be, by many, the nutrient of the decade,” Holick said. A deficiency in the nutrient alters the immune system, making one more likely to get upper respiratory infections.
The average adult needs around 2,000 units of vitamin D a day, Holick said. He said he’s been taking 6,000 units a day for decades and is in great health.
Several other studies on vitamin D have shown its benefits to the immune system.
Research published with the National Institutes of Health showed people with lower vitamin D levels were more likely to self-report a recent upper respiratory tract infection than those with sufficient levels.
Another study of more than 11,000 participants published in the British Medical Journal found vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of acute respiratory tract infection among all participants.
Not sure when Holick moved from Harvard/MGH to BU.
Boston University doctor: Vitamin D can help reduce coronavirus risk by 54%
www.bostonherald.com/2020/09/17/vitamin-d-can-help-reduce-coronavirus-risk-by-54-boston-university-doctor/
January 14, 2021
Dr. Michael Holick, professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine and his colleagues studied blood samples from Quest Diagnostics of more than 190,000 Americans from all 50 states and found that those who had deficient levels of vitamin D had 54% higher COVID positivity compared to those with adequate levels of vitamin D in the blood.
The risk of getting coronavirus continued to decline as vitamin D levels increased, the study, published in the Public Library of Science One peer-reviewed journal shows. “The higher your vitamin D status, lower was your risk,” Holick said.
The vitamin is easy to find and relatively cheap in drug stores, and taking vitamin D pills comes at no risk. “It’s perfectly safe,” Holick said. “It’s considered to be, by many, the nutrient of the decade,” Holick said. A deficiency in the nutrient alters the immune system, making one more likely to get upper respiratory infections.
The average adult needs around 2,000 units of vitamin D a day, Holick said. He said he’s been taking 6,000 units a day for decades and is in great health.
Several other studies on vitamin D have shown its benefits to the immune system.
Research published with the National Institutes of Health showed people with lower vitamin D levels were more likely to self-report a recent upper respiratory tract infection than those with sufficient levels.
Another study of more than 11,000 participants published in the British Medical Journal found vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of acute respiratory tract infection among all participants.
