# 3549
Just yesterday, in an email to a friend, I remarked that it was sad but true: Wars and pandemics both tend to result in advances in our level of medical knowledge.
Many of the techniques I used as a paramedic in the 1970s were first employed by medics during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The whole concept of the `golden hour’ really grew out of their medevac experience.
It is a tough way to do field research, though.
Already, with the threat of the H5N1 virus at our door we’ve made great strides in vaccine research. Billions have been spent increasing manufacturing capacity and in developing new technologies.
But our ability to supply vaccine to most of the world’s 6.7 billion inhabitants remains inadequate. Most people will have to do without a vaccine, just as many will have to go without western medicine or hospital care.
Hundreds of millions of people will – due to circumstance or preference – use traditional or alternative treatments for influenza in this pandemic.
And like western medicine, sometimes they will help . . .and sometimes they won’t. We should, however, come out of this pandemic with a better idea of what does . . .and what doesn’t work.
One of the `alternative’ treatments most often discussed on the flu forums over the past few years has been the use of Vitamin D. You can find discussions on both the Flu Wiki and Flutrackers, plus presumably some of the other forums as well.
There is a good deal of anecdotal evidence supporting the idea that Vitamin D may be useful in fighting off the flu (among other benefits), but good studies supporting that theory are hard to find.
That may be about to change, as we learn from this article from The Globe & Mail. The article is lengthy, but interesting. Follow the links to read it in its entirety.
Health agency to test link between flu, vitamin D
By screening infected blood, researchers hoping to find new ways to fight the virus
Martin Mittelstaedt
From Monday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Monday, Jul. 27, 2009 04:58AM EDT
In an effort to discover new ways to fight the swine flu, the Public Health Agency of Canada intends to test the blood of people contracting the ailment to check their vitamin D levels.
The agency is taking the unconventional action to try to find out whether those with mild cases of the flu have more of the sunshine vitamin circulating in their bodies than those who develop severe or even deadly reactions to the H1N1 virus.
If researchers determine that the vitamin protects against the swine flu, it will give health authorities another line of attack against the pandemic, besides such common-sense approaches as large-scale vaccinations and hand-washing campaigns.
A finding of a link to the vitamin would mean that people could reduce the odds of being harmed by the new flu bug by simply popping a low-cost supplement that is widely available at almost every drugstore.
Scientists have long been wondering about a possible connection between vitamin D and influenza because of the striking observations in both the northern and southern hemispheres that flu is mostly a wintertime ailment. This is the period each year when sunshine isn't intense enough to allow people to make the vitamin the natural way – in naked skin exposed to ultraviolet light – causing levels of the nutrient to plunge among those not taking supplements.
While I don’t use my blog to actively promote alternative medicine, I do accept that the `western’ approach isn’t the only possible route to wellness.
I’ve had a number of conversations with doctors who are very encouraged by the anecdotal reports on Vitamin D, and so have added it to my personal flu arsenal.
It isn’t the only tool I have, but it is one of them.
This isn’t a recommendation on my part, simply an admission. You may wish to do some research on your own, or discuss this matter with your personal physician.
In very large doses, Vitamin D can be toxic, particularly for children. The NIH has a very conservative chart showing tolerable upper limit intake of Vitamin D.
Many nutritionists have challenged these numbers, pointing to studies that indicate that up to 10,000 IU per day may be safe for adults.
My advice, if you are interested in Vitamin D supplementation, is to read the entire factsheet, do some research, and then talk it over with your health care provider.
