COVID the real numbers? Not all doom and gloom.

bulkbiker

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I do hope you are back at work since you are so lucky as not to be vulnerable to the virus. The country needs people like you who either won't catch it or would not suffer much if they did, to do their duty and return to work.

Were I not retired I certainly would be.
 

NicoleC1971

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Excellent news of a new trial on the benefit of VitD (in the form of calcifediol) on ppl admitted to hospital with Covid.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764

small trial, but truly impressive results. Hopefully someone will now fund a proper large scale trial.
Although nothing is stopping any of us supplementing in the meantime.

if you want John Campbell’s discussion on it (and another study) then here is the vid.

I have already encouraged all my family and friends to take plenty of VitD3 since it first hit the headlines in relation to Covid. I will circulate this video too, just in case they have trailed off in taking them. :D

this is a good primer on Vitamin D and metabolic health.
Eat plenty of cholesterol rich foods and get out in the sun what remains of it!
Chronically high levels of insulin i.e. insulin resistance blocks the production of Vitamin D so just taking a supplement in itself may not help the average type 2 who remains insulin resistant e.g. takes drugs to control their diet.
 
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HSSS

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But my average age isn't 84 though...and my personal "underlying condition" isn't really one any more so....

I'm going for a couple more decades too but don't expect anyone to look out for me.

Plus I'll have to really go some to find anyone to infect me where I live..
Nor is mine and nor will it be the age of a substantial number of the dead.

Whilst we think our underlying conditions are well controlled we would still be in the category of previously sick and therefore numerically at least in the “sick anyway” group you seem unconcerned about. And as yet there’s still plenty of room for question about the exact mechanisms that make diabetics vulnerable and if your control has negated those.
 

bulkbiker

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in the “sick anyway” group you seem unconcerned about

What am I "sick" with though?
Blood sugars are fine.. weight slightly over.. HbA1c lower than "normal" I'm metabolically healthy, get lots of sun whenever feasible.
Sorry but I refuse to be a victim here.
 

HSSS

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Chronically high levels of insulin i.e. insulin resistance blocks the production of Vitamin D so just taking a supplement in itself may not help the average type 2 who remains insulin resistant
If you can’t produce Vit d well that makes taking it as a supplement even more important surely?
 

Brunneria

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this is a good primer on Vitamin D and metabolic health.
Eat plenty of cholesterol rich foods and get out in the sun what remains of it!
Chronically high levels of insulin i.e. insulin resistance blocks the production of Vitamin D so just taking a supplement in itself may not help the average type 2 who remains insulin resistant e.g. takes drugs to control their diet.

Not sure why you posted this to me?

I am well aware of my Vit D levels, since I monitor them, and my supplements are doing exactly what I expect them to do, and need them to do - which is keep my Vit D levels optimum, something I am very happy about.

Warning people that vitamin D supplementation is 'useless' is contradictory to my extensive reading on the subject and my personal experience of it.
 

HSSS

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What am I "sick" with though?
Blood sugars are fine.. weight slightly over.. HbA1c lower than "normal" I'm metabolically healthy, get lots of sun whenever feasible.
Sorry but I refuse to be a victim here.
Missing my point. I’m not saying you’re sick. I’m saying people dismiss those with underlying conditions (which technically at least includes you) as not counting somehow when assessing risks of covid. You may not feel you belong in that group. Maybe you don’t. But I’m quite certain there’s a certain percentage of people that are being counted in that group that would equally have not thought themselves in it either. In fact your technical inclusion in that group makes my point even more thoroughly that we cannot dismiss those people as having a foot in the grave already.
 

KK123

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What am I "sick" with though?
Blood sugars are fine.. weight slightly over.. HbA1c lower than "normal" I'm metabolically healthy, get lots of sun whenever feasible.
Sorry but I refuse to be a victim here.

Therein lies one of the issues I think. Those people that are retired and perfectly healthy and living in an area were it would be difficult to catch it clearly are not expected or perceived to be a 'victim'. On the other hand there are those who DO have underlying health conditions, ARE at work and DO live in areas where you are more likely to catch it so they are obviously going to be more concerned and more likely to avidly watch the reports/news/figures coming out and worry more about it. After all, it's all they have to go on. All personal opinions are valid but with something like this anyone's opinion will always be relative to THEIR perceived risk. Bit like insurance really. I fall into the latter 3 categories, am I more likely to catch it than you?, yes, am I more likely to suffer complications than you would? I think so but that's not to say I WILL catch it....especially when I take reasonable precautions to avoid it.
 
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lucylocket61

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I have major insulin resistance, and had very low vitamin d levels. Since my GP prescribed d3 and I also started taking k2 my vitamin d levels are almost normal.

Taking the vitamins has worked for me.
 
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bulkbiker

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I’m saying people dismiss those with underlying conditions (which technically at least includes you)
Technically maybe but in reality no I don't have any underlying conditions .... maybe I'm not getting what you are trying to say for which my apologies but...
 

KK123

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More like life generally?

Yes, definitely, which is one reason I always smile at the umpteen articles supposedly supporting one view or the other. I try to keep a fairly open mind.
 

bulkbiker

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This is a bit scary..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nts-covid-19-tests-twice-amid-concerns-false/

If there's no consistency across labs then maybe the local "outbreaks" are just differences in processing..

Screenshot 2020-09-09 at 08.42.34.png
 

Fairygodmother

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Does it define “underlying condition”. I couldn’t see it. This saying much the same as most other reports in that most of the dead were not perfect specimens of health and were mostly old.

“Underlying conditions“ can be a very long way from almost dead or serious long term additional complications.

You, and I, have an underlying condition so we would be written off as “Well they weren’t healthy anyway so they don’t count” despite not being in our 80’s. Personally I would hope for a few more decades yet of relatively good health if I can avoid a bad dose of covid in the meantime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/...mune-system.html?referringSource=articleShare
This article, which isn’t one to make us relax, explains how the immune system overdrive is affected by age and/or individual immune quirks.
 
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Brunneria

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This is a bit scary..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nts-covid-19-tests-twice-amid-concerns-false/

If there's no consistency across labs then maybe the local "outbreaks" are just differences in processing..

View attachment 43841

I think this has always been a risk - and a pretty universal risk. Even getting an HbA1c test run at different labs will result in a different score, from blood taken at the same blood draw. I have learned to check which method is going to be used for my Vit D tests, because different test methods give different results, and I want consistency over time.

It would be very surprised indeed if all the labs handling covid testing had achieved truly uniform working on a new test, in a few short months - especially as there are various different tests used, from detecting the virus to detecting antibodies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_testing

Hopefully the ongoing publicity around this will help to identify where/if there are disparities, and encourage more uniformity.
 

NicoleC1971

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If you can’t produce Vit d well that makes taking it as a supplement even more important surely?
I think he is saying that the vitamin d production is a marker of a healthy metabolism so just upping your numbers may not help much IF you remain metabolically vulnerable. Rather like reducing your ldl by taking a statins does nothing to prevent primary heart disease.
I am taking a Vit E3 and k2 supplement too but my feeling is my best long term bet is the low carb diet plus sunshine.
 

HSSS

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I think he is saying that the vitamin d production is a marker of a healthy metabolism so just upping your numbers may not help much IF you remain metabolically vulnerable. Rather like reducing your ldl by taking a statins does nothing to prevent primary heart disease.
I am taking a Vit E3 and k2 supplement too but my feeling is my best long term bet is the low carb diet plus sunshine.
Possibly even supplements don’t overcome the issue that caused lack of production/synthesis with regards to covid vulnerability, but we don’t know that yet. So far the evidence is lower vit d levels correlate with poorer outcomes. Supplements address those lower levels.
 

HSSS

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Technically maybe but in reality no I don't have any underlying conditions .... maybe I'm not getting what you are trying to say for which my apologies but...
You and I are both diabetic. Well controlled/in remission/ recovered whatever. But diabetic nonetheless. We therefore technically fall into the category of underlying conditions as will others that feel perfectly healthy. That is my point.

We have a fundamental issue that allowed out glucose regulation to become disordered. We manage that with diet (as opposed to medication) but it remains a fact we have/had something that allowed that to happen that doesn’t to others.

Perhaps in time it will transpire that remission alone is good enough to protect us from the vulnerability to covid diabetes seems to represent. Perhaps in time we will know it is deeper routed and no matter what our control level it is that fundamental genetic disposition that is the problem. Who knows at this point.
 

NicoleC1971

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A discussion on schools and the current issue from the Royal Society of Medicine
 

lucylocket61

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Possibly even supplements don’t overcome the issue that caused lack of production/synthesis with regards to covid vulnerability, but we don’t know that yet. So far the evidence is lower vit d levels correlate with poorer outcomes. Supplements address those lower levels.
given that the first thing a DN does is put type 2 diabetics on a low fat diet, and fat is needed to help with absorption of vitamin D, I can see a problem right there.