Cassius wrote:Can I ask if you've ever spent significant time living in the US?
Well I've been to a TraderJoe's in Nashville. But sure, I'm not disagreeing that the entire attitude and economics around food choices. availability and inventives has to change. No medical system is designed to handle what's to come. Anyway, the southern states aren't what interest me so much here. Plenty of sunlight there. As much as we want to see those red-necked red staters punished for their accumulated sins, this isn't going to be the time.
Cassius wrote:When we talk about a virus that exacerbates respiratory issues, then knowing that
poor, (predominantly black and brown) communities consume more air pollution despite the fact that they contribute less of it, changes the conversation a bit more.
Air pollution is a thing. When Atlanta was largely shut down to traffic during the Olympics there in 1996, asthma cases dramatically declined. Here in Toronto, all the rich people live downtown and the poor live in the suburbs, so I have to stretch my imagination to imagine what the opposite would be like. My image of downtown is basically Manhattan and decent parts of Brooklyn. Anyway, maybe.
Cassius wrote:And this isn't a "blame whitey" thing, Fairview didn't say anything about racism.
Maybe not, but that would be the first time he didn't. i may have pre-empted him.
Cassius wrote:That said, Occam's Razor can be longer than one letter.
But that "single letter" - or the deficiency thereof - is a way easier, more immediately solvable problem than anything else you've raised. The Pareto principle states (in this context) that 80% of a problem can be solved by 20% of your range of solutions. In other words, don't prioritize trying to solve 20% of a problem.
Anyway, let's start with the principle that no one knows. No-one has all the numbers. The numbers lie. Different jurisdictions record deaths differently. Different countries have different demographics. Italians can be darker or lighter skinned, but then the darker skinned may move to the industrialized north - where there's more pollution and less sun - for work. Different cultures give sanctuary to their old in different ways. There are advantages and disadvantages of having three generations living under one roof, in terms of disease transmission. And btw, let me ask you this - have you ever been in a public/subsidized eldercare facility? If so, do you believe such places reflect our society's supposed care for the aged? It drives me crazy that people say we have to crash the economy in order to "save old people", when we treat old people like garbage most of the time.
But back to the point, any studies I dig up can easily be rebutted on the basis of their sample size or methodology. Replication of results has been a huge problem in science for the past few years, and this is only exacerbated by the current panic. But we at least have enough information to form a working hypothesis, and strike out in a Pareto-guided direction.
According to these latest TILDA findings, there are major discrepancies in mortality rates related to vitamin D levels at different latitudes worldwide. Countries in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia, are recording relatively low COVID-related mortality, which the TILDA researchers state can no longer feasibly be related to the later appearance and spread of the virus.
They have pointed to the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in northern hemisphere countries, and the possible role of the vitamin in suppressing severe inflammatory responses seen in patients seriously ill with COVID-19.
The researchers explained that vitamin D deficiency correlates with poor sunlight exposure, increasing age, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and ethnicity. These are all features associated with an increased risk of severe COVID-19.
Currently, all countries that lie below a latitude of 35 degrees north have relatively low mortality from COVID-19. However, people in countries that lie 35 degrees north and above receive insufficient sunlight for adequate vitamin D levels in winter and spring. These include Italy and Spain, which have low population levels of vitamin D.
The researchers pointed out that mortality rates from COVID-19 are higher at these latitudes, with the exception of Nordic countries, where vitamin D supplementation is widespread and deficiency is much less common.
As a result of their findings, the researchers are recommending that all nursing home residents in Ireland take Vitamin D.
"Public Health England, the Scottish and Welsh governments have issued recommendations for supplements for all adults from March to October, and supplementation all year round for adults living in care homes or nursing homes, who are required to wear clothes that cover most of the skin when outdoors, or who have dark skin.
