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Now that the flu season is coming make sure you have enough vitamin D, since vitamin D might protect you against the flu.
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Chance I have heard positive things about d3. D3 has been suggested as an alternative to receiving a flu shot. Adults can take at least 5,000 IU of d3 a day. Children are recommended to take a smaller amount of d3. Being out in the Sun is good, because Sunlight can provide a more natural source of Vitamin D. Apparently Vitamin D can help the immune system stay healthy. Diet, and help from Hashem are important in keeping the body healthy. Fatty fish such a Salmon are a good source of Vitamin D.
If you take D, try to take it with food, especially if you tend to have gastric problems. OR – sit in the sun for about 20 minutes a day.
This is junk science that can endanger your children. The lie about vaccines causing autism was promoted by a crooked researcher who was in cohoots with trial lawyers who wanted to make money from lawsuits. (I am not creative enough to make this up.) Many millions of your tax dollars have been wasted in attempts to confirm an association between vaccines and autism, all because of this crooked researcher and the people who bought into his lies.
More in another comment.
From the CDC:
“Most children who have febrile seizures recover quickly and have no lasting effects. However, febrile seizures often result in a visit to an emergency room and can be very frightening for parents and caregivers.”
“Two studies have shown that children who have febrile seizures after receiving an MMR vaccine are no more likely to have epilepsy or learning or developmental problems than children who have febrile seizures that are not associated with a vaccine. Experts believe it is likely that this finding for MMR vaccine applies to MMRV vaccine as well.”
Kids get fevers, high fevers sometimes are associated with seizures, and they are almost never associated with long term consequences. You think that they might be associated with the vaccine, but the child just gets sick about the time of the vaccine. By contrast, influenza can cause high fever and death in vulnerable populations, including unvaccinated children. Get your kids vaccinated!
All that said, Vitamin D has been found to be associated with lower rates of influenza in children in a rigorous clinical trial. It is not a replacement for a vaccine, though. And consult a doctor for the correct dose: excessive doses can be toxic!
Also, Vitamin D is one vitamin that light skinned people can produce with no supplement at all — it is made in the skin when exposed to sunlight. We frum Jews don’t get a lot of sun exposure on our skin because we cover up so much, but at least expose your face to the outdoor sun a little more (but not enough to get sunburned) — it really is good for you.
Here is the study that showed that Vitamin D reduces influenza in children:
Mitsuyoshi Urashima, Takaaki Segawa, Minoru Okazaki, Mana Kurihara, Yasuyuki Wada and Hiroyuki Ida. Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Background: To our knowledge, no rigorously designed clinical trials have evaluated the relation between vitamin D and physician-diagnosed seasonal influenza.
Objective: We investigated the effect of vitamin D supplements on the incidence of seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.
Design: From December 2008 through March 2009, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing vitamin D3 supplements (1200 IU/d) with placebo in schoolchildren. The primary outcome was the incidence of influenza A, diagnosed with influenza antigen testing with a nasopharyngeal swab specimen.
Results: Influenza A occurred in 18 of 167 (10.8%) children in the vitamin D3 group compared with 31 of 167 (18.6%) children in the placebo group [relative risk (RR), 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.99; P = 0.04]. The reduction in influenza A was more prominent in children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.79; P = 0.006) and who started nursery school after age 3 y (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.78; P = 0.005). In children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D3 compared with 12 children receiving placebo (RR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.73; P = 0.006).
Conclusion: This study suggests that vitamin D3 supplementation during the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren. This trial was registered at https://center.umin.ac.jp as UMIN000001373.
Received for publication December 17, 2009. Accepted for publication February 11, 2010.
You can buy the article at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition website. Pediatricians and Family Physicians should be aware of it.
To a healthy flu season!
to OP,
Is this the same Reuters with the totally honest and true reporting on Israel? Like the time with the extra missiles in the picture or the reporting as truth and fact the productions of Pallywood? There is a risk in everything. But doesn’t the risk of death if the vaccine is not taken also have to be considered. You state from the article that the risck of siezures increased. By how much? from 1 in 100 to 2 in 100 or from 1 in a 100,000 to 2 in 100,000. Big difference between the two. Remember 1+1 can be proven to equal zero and statistics can always be manipulated to show whatever you want.
Vitamin D3 1000 to 2000 units a day. Plus Vitamin C 2000 units a day. Plus flu shot. And last but not least a bissel tehilim praying to Hashem that you don’t catch anything. Truth is that C and D do protect very well against the common cold.
add some zinc, and you’ve got a recipe for better health.
Vitamin D is also vital for your bones.
theprof1,
Many people can’t tolerate anything close to 2000 mg of Vitamin C a day.
chance,
I’ve published over six dozen peer reviewed medical journal articles. How many have you published? I also review about a dozen medical journal articles every year and have three on my desk right now; I know what I am talking about and I see through lies and spin. How many have you reviewed? I can even tell you exactly how they can design biased studies and why it is wrong. Can you give some examples of how to design a biased study or do a biased analysis? Better yet, please discuss exactly why you would discount the results of any of the vaccine efficacy trials. My first year medical students can do this, can you?
If you say there are lies, bring some data to back up your conjecture. The real lies here were the bogus association between vaccines and autism, which YOU bought into.
chance,
Some doctors buy the Big Pharma marketing, but plenty of others don’t. My wife is a doctor and refuses to talk to drug reps.
Unfortunately the Republicans in Congress bought into Big Pharma’s lobbying and made it much easier to get drugs approved; Newt Gingrich called the FDA the #1 job killer in America. As a result we’ve had some widely publicized drug recalls.
That said, there is a problem here that is really unsolvable: Most of the time you only really need to test a drug in a few thousand patients to prove efficacy. But if a serious adverse event occurs in only one in ten thousand patients you will most likely never see it in the efficacy studies. And if you require efficacy studies to have thirty thousand patients rather than three thousand, far fewer drugs will be tested because they will be unaffordable. Big Pharma isn’t totally at fault here, and there is no conspiracy!
I guess the original post was edited to remove the vaccine references because otherwise it’s a strange tangent. Since we’re on it, I don’t have issues with immunizations though do wish they would do a more staggered schedule. It seems like some of the overloading done is a LOT for a developing immune system. Not touching the autism connection, just saying.
tzippi,
Without the vaccine references, there is nothing wrong with the original post. As I pointed out, Vitamin D, while not a replacement for vaccines, does offer some protection against influenza, at least in children (who are the most vulnerable to the H1N1 strain). All parents should talk to their family physician or pediatrician about appropriate doses for different ages.
We are blessed by HaShem that so many diseases that used to cause so much suffering may now be prevented by vaccines! It is a non-trivial matter to come up with a schedule that works *logistically* given the number of vaccines, the number of doses, and the number of clinic visits that already-pressed parents need to make. Fortunately all vaccines now available in the US are even more safe (in terms of frequency of serious adverse events) than common over the counter pain medications, so unless there is a known contraindication such as an egg allergy almost all vaccinations can be given with confidence on or close to the reccommended schedule.
No-one heard that it should be taken with “Calcium and Magnesium”?
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Vitamin D’s source is not from Food (really there is some but very few), It’s mainly from the Sun.
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Sam,
Excellent point about Calcium and Magnesium. All should consult their physicians about proper doses. Without the Calcium and Magnesium you will be wasting your money. (Also worth noting: Calcium and Magnesium supplements raise significant kashrut issues. Consult your local Orthodox rabbi.)
However, frum Jews will not get enough Vitamin D from sun because we cover up almost all our skin.
A doctor told me that being outdoors is a good way to get vitamin D.Are you sure clothing are “in the way”?(Based on your last post.)I would think the body capable of absorbing the vitamin D from any site of exposure.
No Toxicity when American’s take 5000 IU daily for A few months even.
This is what I has doing and does now, and it went up to A very nice number!
For A few of my kids I gave 2000 IU daily for few months and were in A nice condition B”H.
Nice Sam 5000IUs is generally the right amount for D3 for maintaining the bones in the Skeletal System for an adult, and 2000IUs for a child is about right from what I read. Make sure to also take Calcium and Magnesium and Fish Oil as well to help support bone health and well being. Make sure all Suplements are Kosher. Salmon and Herring are good fish choices to eat, providing they were not caught in water contaminated with Mercury and other toxic things. When the sun is out, bask in it free beautiful Vitamin D UV rays. Health is a gift so we can do our Avodas Hashem.
Sam what I wrote in my above post I am also doing this myself.
Yankdownunder, You are right about the mercury, it depends how much A day you intake that the body could handle it. Every fish has its own statistics on their amounts and the information keeps get updated.
Be careful, though. it can cause diarrhea.
it is impossible in winter, in far northern or southern climes (yes, this includes Brooklyn) to get enough Vitamin D from the sun, it’s just too low in the sky. Plus, it’s real cold, so people don’t go outside with uncovered skin very much.
Sam follow the guidelines per kind of fish as far as being a safe ammount to consume.
oomis 5000IU for an adult, and 2000IU for a child per day is not overdoining it. In general follow the directions on the Supplemented Bottle of D3. Do not exceed the recommended daily amount printed on the label of the bottle. Being that sunlight is a problem winter time (in the Northern Hemisphere) how is one going to get Skeletal Support unless they supplement? This is exactly why one has to Supplement with Vitamin D, Calcium and Magnesium and Omega Fish Oils following IU according to age of the one Supplenting. The other possibility is to eat foods that are a source of Vitamin D for additional support to the bones, immune system and more.
ronsr true about not getting enough sun light, that is why it is intelligent to Supplement with Vitamin D, Calcium and Magnesium, and Omega 3 Fish Oils to help support the Skeletal System. I also wrote when the Sun is shining to go outside and bask in the sunlight. I know one does not get 100% UV rays, because of the position of the sun in the sky wintertime, but even if one received 25-35% benefit it is better then no benefit. This would happen on a seasonably warm day. Being outside on a sunny day could boost your immune system that much more.
Yankdownunder I agree! An important Tip. From time to time you should bite into one of the Fish capsules to make sure it’s not spoiled (has A bitter taste), as I’ve experienced with one of the Companies.
Also, look for A Certified’ OR Registered’ symbol.
It is recommended to take Fish Oil together with Vitamin E’ to prevent oxidation. Very Important!
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