Read on Twitter
This is a 
*HEALTH WARNING* 
about Vitamin Davis.
(And COVID, pre-prints, and Vitamin D)
/ Thread https://twitter.com/daviddavismp/status/1360647462197878791
*HEALTH WARNING* about Vitamin Davis. (And COVID, pre-prints, and Vitamin D)
/ Thread https://twitter.com/daviddavismp/status/1360647462197878791
What does this study actually show?
Well, as many have pointed out, it is neither “large” or “well-conducted”, and in fact quite flawed, randomising entire wards & not individual patients.
This makes it nearly unreadable in its current form.
Here’s a great thread on why /2 https://twitter.com/fperrywilson/status/1360944814271979523
Well, as many have pointed out, it is neither “large” or “well-conducted”, and in fact quite flawed, randomising entire wards & not individual patients.
This makes it nearly unreadable in its current form.
Here’s a great thread on why /2 https://twitter.com/fperrywilson/status/1360944814271979523
So how did it get published if it was so flawed? Well the answer is, it DIDN’T. This is a “pre-print”, which is like a DRAFT before the study has been looked at by other scientists and checked for mistakes. I’d be very surprised if this gets published in its current form at all.
“Pre-prints” have pros and cons- on the plus side they are fast to get out into the world and universally accessible, but on the downside they are fast to get out into the world and universally accessible. /4
“Pre-prints” have informed debate in key scientific areas rapidly (like new variants in COVID), but at the same time fuelled misleading headlines and health beliefs.
That’s why “peer review” is so essential. /5
That’s why “peer review” is so essential. /5
Does this study tell us much about COVID and Vitamin D? Not really. Not yet anyway. @
Should we give vitamin D into the veins of unwell COVID patients? Not without better evidence of benefit. /6
Should we give vitamin D into the veins of unwell COVID patients? Not without better evidence of benefit. /6
NICE summary of the evidence here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng187/chapter/Rationale
Top takeaways- no evidence for COVID/Vit D.
Vitamin D deficiency is found in groups at risk of COVID, but could be from common causes of both (e.g poverty).
Vitamin D normally goes DOWN when you are sick anyway. /7
Top takeaways- no evidence for COVID/Vit D.
Vitamin D deficiency is found in groups at risk of COVID, but could be from common causes of both (e.g poverty).
Vitamin D normally goes DOWN when you are sick anyway. /7
Should I take vitamin D?
Yes, as the government recommends it every winter. (Full disclosure, I take it. But just in general. Not for COVID) /8
Yes, as the government recommends it every winter. (Full disclosure, I take it. But just in general. Not for COVID) /8
So what’s David Davis up to?
Well, miracle COVID cures are very popular during the pandemic- hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, zinc, vitamin C. But most of these haven’t seen any real-life benefit in actual “well conducted” trials. /9
Well, miracle COVID cures are very popular during the pandemic- hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, zinc, vitamin C. But most of these haven’t seen any real-life benefit in actual “well conducted” trials. /9
These “simple” cures play into the narrative that the “scientists have got it wrong”, which is in one part hope, one part frustration and one part conspiracy theory. And it’s this narrative that is very erosive to public health policy.
The irony is many COVID clinical trials have been run on all sorts of known medicines, at rapid pace, to try and answer these questions systematically - that’s where the evidence for steroids came from for example.
Vitamin C: https://annalsofintensivecare.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13613-020-00792-3
Zinc: https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(20)31961-9/pdf
Vitamin C: https://annalsofintensivecare.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13613-020-00792-3
Zinc: https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(20)31961-9/pdf
It appears Davis may have been briefed by one of several individuals downplaying COVID severity and lockdowns. Which is all predicated on being able to “live with COVID”, and go back to normality. /12
(Funnily enough relatively normal lives are being lived already globally with No COVID, in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. Yet no country has managed to “live with it”. ) /13
And this is the issue with Vitamin Davis- it contains false hope, flawed evidence, and may contain other ingredients hazardous to public health. Avoid. /14
So in summary:
1) DO take vitamin D if you are recommended it
2) We don’t know if it’s helpful for COVID
3) Avoid Vitamin Davis. /end
1) DO take vitamin D if you are recommended it
2) We don’t know if it’s helpful for COVID
3) Avoid Vitamin Davis. /end
