A possible Covid-19 explanation from a supercomputer analysis

[central scrutinizer]

https://elemental.medium.com/a-supercomputer-analyzed-covid-19-and-an-interesting-new-theory-has-emerged-31cb8eba9d63

Excerpt:

Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. Summit is the second-fastest computer in the world, but the process — which involved analyzing 2.5 billion genetic combinations — still took more than a week.

When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.

[Mike 03]

1. Fascinating.

Thank you for posting.

Here's an interesting paragraph about vitamin D:

Interestingly, Jacobson’s team also suggests vitamin D as a potentially useful Covid-19 drug. The vitamin is involved in the RAS system and could prove helpful by reducing levels of another compound, known as REN. Again, this could stop potentially deadly bradykinin storms from forming. The researchers note that vitamin D has already been shown to help those with Covid-19. The vitamin is readily available over the counter, and around 20% of the population is deficient. If indeed the vitamin proves effective at reducing the severity of bradykinin storms, it could be an easy, relatively safe way to reduce the severity of the virus.

[pazzyanne]

19. My doctor just put me on Vitamin D.

Not because of Covid, but because I was low on Vitamin D. Talk about timely.

[dameatball]

20. same here. Who knew?

[pansypoo53219]

39. no sun vit d after equinox in winter so i double my d in winter.

[LittleGirl]

53. I believe 20% deficiency in D

Is low. I think it’s much higher.

[OhNo-Really]

58. I agree. I get really dark tan. I had Vit D Deficiency 🤷🏻‍♀️

The higher the melanin it more vit D deficient the Doc said. This was in February when I had annual blood work. He said 400 units. I take 8. Great timing.

I also wear a face shield if in public (2 x since Feb 28)

I’m so freaking lonely. Family gone. Friends spread over the earth. One adult child too busy with working at home/kids.
Art keeps me glued.

I dabble. My latest yet unfinished click each to see full painting.

Link to tweet

Stay kind & loving
✨✨🙏✨✨
Namaste

[Horse with no Name]

59. I read some early reports on this

I am high risk but also take prescribed megadoses of vitamin D. I have been exposed at least twice and have not got Covid. I know this is anecdotal but I’m good with that too. I have told my close friends and family to do the same.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

2. Recommend reading this piece

Sounds like a possible breakthrough.

[SheltieLover]

3. Excellent!

Ty!

[ananda]

4. Superb!

This is the best article on Covid I've read so far. It explains the symptoms and possible treatments in a very understandable, scientific way. I urge everyone to read it through.

[UserNotFound]

26. +1!

[SoonerPride]

5. Recommended strongly.

This ain’t the flu but a new super disease the likes do which we haven’t seen before.

Understanding how it attacks the body and all these disparate symptoms is the first step.

I highly recommend this article.

[UserNotFound]

27. +1!

[pnwmom]

6. Really interesting. Thanks for sharing! n/t

[Laelth]

7. That's very hope-inspiring. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[mwooldri]

8. At least it does reveal one useful thing.

If your vitamin D levels are low, fix it. Might help with Covid but the article says this is a theory still and clinical research is still needed. But it's one thing anyone can do, even if it is simply getting some sunshine.

[Merlot]

11. I was always outside and getting lots of sunshine but had low Vit D levels

Turns out wearing sunscreen protects you from not only the sun but it's Vit D as well.

[Warpy]

16. Where you wear it is important

Face, shoulders, upper back are all prime burn spots. The rest is either covered or in constant motion.

I have an Irish hide, which means no melanin. I figure in summer, the trip out to the mailbox at the end of the driveway does the trick. September-April, I supplement.

People who really need to pay attention to this are people with melanin, the best sunscreen there is. They're adapted to survive strong solar radiation. Unfortunately, it also makes them more prone to heat stroke and they have a tougher time making vitamin D. These are the people who really need to watch those levels. Doctors need to check any POC they come across to make sure.

I'll refer people to the research of Dr Nina Jablonski for this stuff.

[freepotter]

50. Could be?

May explain a part of why POC are more severely affected by this virus.

[pandr32]

18. No problem for me

I live in Hawaii and swim in the pool often so I don't wear sunscreen. My Vit D levels are good.

[Native]

46. My doc advocates 20 minutes in the sun each day, no sunscreen and as much skin showing as possible

[Warpy]

12. The window for getting sunshine is closing rapidly up north

so it's supplements starting about now, increasing as the sun moves south and the UVB is filtered out.

There are other takeaways, that it would seem to confirm Covid as a vascular disease, not a primarily respiratory one, and it does give a glimpse of why men are in more danger of dying from it.

They're getting closer to understanding this thing and that's good.

[Native]

47. Light therapy?

[Warpy]

52. Nope, even tanning beds use UVA, not UVB

because nobody wants to be sued by tanning addicts who got skin cancer. Early varieties were both UVA and UVB and burns happened. With UVA, all that happens is more rapid aging.

UVB is what interacts with cholesterol within the skin to produce vitamin D. As the angle of the sun lowers, more and more UVB is absorbed by the atmosphere. People with extremely pale skin evolved to cope with this but tend to burn and blister in the tropics. People in the tropics tend to have more melanin in their skin, which acts as a perfect sunscreen but depresses vitamin D production. So it's a tradeoff between vitamin D production in lower light or not being burned to a crisp by strong solar radiation.

Diet at high latitudes provided vitamin D but a lot of the sources have been fished out. I'm afraid it's supplementation these days. At least it's cheap and available here. In the other USA (South Africa), it is expensive and hard to come by and vitamin D deficiency is rampant.

[Native]

61. I'm talking about red light and infrared with LED not fluorescent tubes.

[Warpy]

62. Wrong end of the spectrum

You're getting into heat at that end of the spectrum. It takes UVB to manufacture endogenous vitamin D.

If you want to keep those fast food burgers and fries hot, you want infrared with enough visible red to show the light hasn't burned out yet, but it does nothing in terms of vitamin D.

[Native]

63. Gotcha.

[Auggie]

9. K&R

[rurallib]

10. Kick!

[iluvtennis]

13. K&R - very very enlightening. nt

[Lucky Luciano]

14. I dunno. This seems all sciency and eggheady. I don't trust the lot of them!

[live love laugh]

33. You don't trust scientists?

[Lucky Luciano]

34. You know it's much less fun if you have to put the tag!

[live love laugh]

36. What? 🧐

[Lucky Luciano]

44. Spelled out: I was being sarcastic.

On a scale from 0-10 where 0 uses religion/faith as a guide and 10 uses science as a guide, I’m a 10.

[Ferrets are Cool]

51. LMAO

Amazing to me how things get misunderstood. Almost as if it is on purpose.

[Zeitghost]

15. Vitamin D

It's good to see another study collaborating the vitamin D aspect. I ran across another study claiming 80%+ of COVID19 deaths were liked to low vitamin D levels. It could also help explain part of why it's hitting BIPOC communities so hard.

[Native]

48. Remember all the homeless communites that were infected but yet no one really got sick?

That, I thought, pretty much corroborated the whole vitamin D/sunshine angle for me.

[dlk]

17. This hypothesis ties together the seemingly unrelated symptoms of Covid-19

It’s reassuring news, if still early in the process.

[relayerbob]

21. Thank you for sharing this important article

[Orrex]

22. At the risk of being a downer...

A friend who is in a position to know has cautioned that this study, though interesting, has not been well supported by subsequent date.

This friends despises Trump, is no COVID denier, and is in fact a medical doctor. She sees useful information to come from this, but she warns that may not be quite the blockbuster that it appears to laypeople like me.

[Rural_Progressive]

29. Like all studies based on computer modeling

it depends on certain assumptions to begin processing. Subsequent runs will bring more refinement and clarity to the results.

[Orrex]

31. Exactly

And, of course, that's how science works, and why it's the strongest predictive model we have.

But Trump cultists and other anti-science fuckheads will no doubt seize on this as "proof" that "scientists don't know anything."

[GopherGal]

37. The observational analyses...

... just show the correlation in "correlation does not imply causation".

But the correlation sure points to a nice place to go hunting for causation, especially if you can come up with a good mechanistic explanation for the correlation. My quick googling makes it sound like clinical trials to try to establish causation are in the works.

[moonseller66]

23. This just in...

The Trump Administration is considering purchasing the entire world's supply of Vitamin D. /s

[paleotn]

24. Wonders of modern science.

[colorado_ufo]

25. Medical researchers are showing that 80% of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D.

Last edited Thu Sep 3, 2020, 06:36 PM - Edit history (1)

This is due to so much indoor activity, northern latitudes, darker skin tones in some cases, etc. Very difficult to get from diet alone, easy to get from the sun if you are exposed for about 15 minutes with arms and face exposed during brightest parts of the day IN summer. Much easier to get a cheap supplement! They have also found that Vitamin D is crucial to survival in cancer patients, particularly breast cancer. Necessary to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, rickets in children. Often 2000 IU is recommended for cancer patients.

Don't bother with the expense of a test, which is NOT covered by Medicare. Go to the grocery or pharmacy and get a reputable brand (natural sources) with at least 1000 IU/day (RDA is like 400 IU, but as you get older or have celiac, etc., you don't absorb as well). I personally take a total of about 4000 IU/day.

[LuckyCharms]

40. Just a small point...

Vitamin D is measured in IUs, or international units.

I take a supplement of 1000 IUs of vitamin D each day.

This equals 25 micrograms (mcg) or 0.025 milligrams.

1000 mg would probably poison a horse.

Sorry to be a pain, but it might save some people for looking for 1000mg of Vitamin D at the drug store.

Yours is a good post...I just read a chart that the RDA goes from 400 IU for small children and rises to 800 IU (I think) for people in their 70's.

[colorado_ufo]

41. You are absolutely correct!

I should not post when I am in too much of a rush.

[USALiberal]

57. Update your post! nt

[colorado_ufo]

64. Done!

[USALiberal]

65. Thanks for the info also, heading to CVS tomorrow!! nt

[central scrutinizer]

42. The Costco gelcaps are 2000 IU each

I’ve been taking one a day for years. And there’s another 500 IU in the multivitamin.

[Horse with no Name]

60. I take a goodly amount

50,000 u per week of Vitamin D2 and 5,000 u per day of vitamin D3.
I think I’m covered!

[ProfessorGAC]

28. A Very Fine Article

Interesting; enough tech, but breezy to read!
Great find!

[UserNotFound]

30. Thanks so much for sharing this!

Efforts like this need more publicity. Deconstructing this thing to figure out how it operates is the key to finding effective treatments, and hopefully a vaccine...

It's funny how the supercomputer made no mention of drinking bleach, or herd immunity... ;/ Science. Wow...

[DeminPennswoods]

32. Fascinating!

Thanks for posting.

[AllyCat]

35. This is absolutely great reading

We have started everyone on vitamin D in our house. The bradykinin connection makes a lot of sense.

[Yavin4]

38. If their hypothesis is found to be correct, this could lead to more effective, life-saving treatment

and treatments are where we should be focused, not vaccines. Find a way to keep people alive who catch the disease and the battle will be won.

[Pacifist Patriot]

43. Now that is both fascinating and gives me hope.

Thank you so much for sharing that. Wish I could rec it more than once.

[Happy Hoosier]

45. ...

[McCamy Taylor]

49. Thanks for posting.

[BadgerMom]

54. K & R

[the_sly_pig]

55. Science

Weird.

[IronLionZion]

56. Most people are low on vitamin D

not getting enough through diet and sunshine. People drink less fortified milk these days.