Vit D assoc w better cognition in those w sleep disturb + mild cognitive impair

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• Hacker News
• Why does every health topic on HN attract so much comment spam?

  This was posted 2 hours ago, and right now it's the fearmongerers and pedants. I'm expecting the next wave of comments to be the promoters of bad supplement advice and personal blogs. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned peptides or whatever else yet. That's when you know the discussion has really gone to shit.

  Nobody wants to honestly discuss vitamin deficiencies and their impact on quality of life? Most people do have deficiencies. Many of them have otherwise unexplained minor symptoms that are proven to be related to mental health. Vitamin D is at the top of the list. It's worth getting checked out in your routine bloodwork during a doctor visit.

  The recommended amounts are what is optimal, but what is strictly necessary is usually far lower. That's why people aren't keeling over and why most of them don't care. Most people have suboptimal diets for a million tangential reasons not worth arguing about. Intake may not even be the problem if you have an undiagnosed endocrine or metabolic issue. Lots of people are prediabetic, drink too much, etc.

  I don't think this short list of facts will help, but can we get back on track?

  by sublinear
• Before you start self-medicating -- "participants had a mean age of 67.2±8.9" and this is a study focusing on people with mild cognitive impairment.

  You should see a physician before attempting to treat your poor sleep with vitamin D or melatonin.

  by phoronixrly
• "Self-medicating" with a standard multivitamin is harmless at worst, and so is additional vitamin D supplementation if it's not in the extreme over a long period of time. It has a nonzero chance of helping, and it's a cheap and easy thing to throw into one's routine.
  by jimmaswell
• No one treats their sleep with vitamin D. It's not what people take vitamin D for.
  by OutOfHere
• All those professionals (scientists, doctors, etc.) who for decades told you not to supplement a good dose of vitamin D have been trying to get you killed. Often they work for big pharma or industry interests, and want to peddle million dollar medicines that don't even work right. They would have us live and die in ignorance. It's also no surprise that healthcare expenses are through the roof. Supplemental vitamin D is hurting the business of endocrinologists most of all.
  by OutOfHere
• Too extreme of a take. They're ignorant at best. In fact after cholecalciferol/calcitriol and the whole vitamin D receptor family, ignorance of the importance of bacterial balance and mineral intake are the next two biggest categories.
  by rfgplk
• The shortened title is incorrect: the “/“ should be “+”.
  by WalterGR
• Fixed
  by bookofjoe
• Not an interventional RCT. This belongs to the useless pile of Vit D observational studies.
  by AlawamiAZ
• Check out interventional RCTs for near-infrared light exposure. They're showing a lot more promise than for ultraviolet light exposure or vitamin D supplementation.
  by dlcarrier
• Study was in an elderly cohort with cognitive impairment. This is a cohort more likely to have nutrition and diet problems and spend all of their time indoors. I haven’t found the full study but the results look marginal for a narrow group.

  Then there’s this important note in the highlights:

  > Higher daily Vitamin D intake may impact cognition in persons with sleep disturbance and MCI.

  More is not better with Vitamin D. Correcting deficiencies is good but the mega dosing trend is not.

  by Aurornis
• This guy will get you killed. It is reasonable to maintain a blood level of about 45 ng/mL. This often requires 5000 IU/day, perhaps less in seniors with weaker kidneys, or those with heavy sun exposure which is dangerous for other reasons. You don't need to see a doctor for this, but you do need to get the test done every year or two. Personally I prefer not involving a doctor for any of it.

  Nobody disputes that excessive vitamin D is not good, but maintaining a blood level below 45 ng/ml also is not good. Covid studies had ascertained that a level of at least 50 ng/ml was optimal.

  by OutOfHere
• Don't go overboard, but you have quite a bit of margin for error. I am finding one claim that the upper maximum daily dose for Vitamin D is 4000 IU. A Costco daily multivitamin is 400 IU (most adults are recommended at 600 IU).

  If you start supplementing with a traditional, OTC Vitamin D option, likely very low risk of complications.

  by 3eb7988a1663
• I'd like to add that correcting deficiencies implies seeing a physician to get your dosage right. This is necessary both for Vitamin D and Melatonin.

  If you're not a sedentary geriatric with MCI this study is probably not for you.

  by phoronixrly