Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Lockdowns ?


Is it possible that lockdowns do more harm than good? 

“No way . . . Nonsense,” you say. Now granted I am a contrarian, but whatever we are doing does not seem to be working as far as Covid is concerned. Tracking of Covid cases are not identifying outdoor dining, gyms, and hair salons/ barbershops as likely sources of exposure, and yet “those that know best” continue to lockdown these businesses even though the evidence suggests otherwise.

What about locking down the populace in general? Again “those in the know” say that these lockdowns can only be beneficial. My response, “Not so fast, kimosabe.” 

With lockdowns there is a lack of sun exposure. Is it possible that forcing individuals to stay inside can be decreasing their Vitamin D levels? “Those in the know” might respond, “Yes, that is possible, but so what? What does one’s Vitamin D level have you do with Covid?”

Dr. John Campbell in England has some interesting observations in his videos on Youtube concerning Vitamin D and Covid. 

First of all, Vitamin D is an immuno-modulator. It is necessary for both innate and adaptive immunity, and it suppresses excess pro-inflammatory cytokines which can be very detrimental in Covid patients. Also there is a relationship between decreased Vitamin D levels and high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Notice that I did not say a cause-effect relationship, but a relationship nonetheless. Isn’t it interesting that patients with coincident high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease all have increased mortality with Covid.

Are there any studies that show a relationship between Vitamin D and Covid? If we are talking about randomized, prospective, controlled trials  – as made famous by Dr. Fauci, – not that I am aware of. However, there are studies than do demonstrate an association between low Vitamin D levels and poor outcomes with Covid. In one study 82% of hospitalized Covid patients had low Vitamin D levels compared to 47% in community controls. In another study, Covid patients with normal Vitamin D levels (> 30 ng/ml) had less clinical severity, less mortality, and lower CRP levels compared to those with low Vitamin D levels. 

Also with Covid, Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly poorer outcome when contracting Covid. In a study out of Arizona Blacks had a 55% incidence of a low Vitamin D level and Hispanics had a 37.6 incidence, whereas the Vitamin D level was low in only 23% of whites. Could these low levels explain why Blacks and Hispanics have fourfold higher rate of Covid hospitalization compared to whites?

Okay so maybe there is some sort of association with Vitamin D and Covid, but what does this have to do with lockdowns? 

In study published in Nature involving 6524 patients in 152 countries when the UV Index was increased, the number of new Covid cases as well as the case fatality rate was less. In other words the amount of sunshine appeared to be inversely related to the number of new Covid cases as well as the Covid case fatality rate. Hmmm.

What’s the basic difference to individuals between a non-sunny day and staying inside, locked down, when considering the Vitamin D an individual gets from UV light. In other words is it possible that locking down individuals deprives them of sun exposure, and thus decreases their Vitamin D levels in a detrimental way?

Something to think about?

FYI: For what it’s worth, Dr. John Campbell takes 2000 units of oral supplemental Vitamin D every day, and the older author of this blog takes 4000 units daily.

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