Perhaps it would have been better if I’d said that the vitamins keep you from becoming unhealthy, rather than specifically that they “boost” your immune system.
But, that said, from what I’ve read about Vitamin D it does mediate autoimmune responses so it would be accurate to say that it “improves” (makes better) your immune system, even if it doesn’t “improve” (increase) your immune system.
That being said, I do see things like these:
Yes it would be. Again, pediatrician not internist, and I would be happy to learn what specific deficiency that would be, and then would be able to look up more on my own to learn more. If that is how autoimmune neutropenia presents in adults I’d like to learn about that.
Meanwhile the my brother had an or something is something else.
Again, we still don’t really know if this happens in people’s real lives, and if it does what sort of difference it makes. There are hints and indications and clues that it may but current consensus is that we cannot yet say for sure. And there’s also a lot research assertions out there that are not based on rigorous or well designed studies.
But given how folks don’t get as much sunshine as they used to, I’m all for everyone making sure they get enough vitamin D (without getting too much).
There have been many vitamin D discussions here.
Short version is that strength of the data supporting its use is pretty weak, and the possibility of harms of reasonable supplementation is very very small. So the why not argument may hold pending better data. I don’t myself but that’s me.
For the very little it is worth … the vitamin D we measure is not the more active form in the body. My WAG is that low measured vitamin D is a result of inflammatory processes using it up, not the cause of those processes. I highly doubt vitamin D supplements will keep most healthy and prevent catching viruses.
Having worked in the elementary school environment, I had to quote and reiterate this. Your average child is a toxic waste dump as far as germs are concerned. Your child is among a number of other germ ridden children all day long breathing the same air and touching the same things over and over again, and it is the hands that are doing the touching. Hands must be washed over and over again.
According to one research study, participants touched their faces an average of 23 times per hour, and of those touches, 44 percent came in contact with mucous membranes.
I also suggest keeping a daily log of pretty much everything that is you: what time you got up, how many hours sleep you got, what you ate for breakfast and then for lunch and then for dinner. EVERYTHING. If they have do allergy tests and tracking, a log like that can be a big help.
You need to get on this or continue living like this.
Let’s play this out using those numbers.
That’s a mucous membranes touch on average once every five minutes or so, immediately then touching and spreading it to a variety of high touch frequency surfaces, desks, keyboards, pens, chair edges, etc. Those surfaces then sources until sanitized. And that’s elementary school aged, not preschoolers.
How often do you think hands and surfaces would need to washed and/or sanitized to make a difference?
Trying to empty the ocean with a thimble is more likely to work.
It’s not an all or nothing scenario. Everything we do reduces the odds. I discovered during COVID that all the things I was doing to reduce my chances of COVID were also working to reduce the chances of the flu, the common cold, etc. I didn’t get sick from anything, not just from COVID.
Because I have a history of “long common colds”, and my brother had a test result I can’t find, my doctor ordered an immune study on my blood, that came back essentially normal. Here’s my report:
Your immune globulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE) were all normal. Your IgG subclass levels were also normal except for IgG2 which was slightly below the normal range at 211 (241-700) but NOT at the level considered to be abnormal (<50). “IgG subclass deficiency is a laboratory finding that does not necessarily equate to a clinical disorder. The diagnosis of a clinically significant IgG subclass deficiency requires evidence of antibody dysfunction in the form of recurrent infections and an inadequate response to vaccine challenge. In one study, up to 20 percent of an unselected population had levels of one or more of the IgG subclasses below these lower limits of normal, a finding that has fueled ongoing debate about whether or not IgG subclass deficiency truly represents a primary immunodeficiency.”
My recollection is that my brother had a number for a different IgG (not IgG2, but some other number) that was much more abnormal than mine, and his doctors thought it was why he’d had a cold for more than 4 months.
Not actually a true statement.
Some things we do do not reduce the odds. Some things have foreseeable negative consequences.
Ah.
The article I had cited specifically advised that IgG subclass testing and interpretation be done only in specialized centers.
Not an expert myself. Just quoting the experts.
Yeah. My brother saw experts in a city with a lot of medical experts, and lots of specialized testing available and specialists who can interpret that. It’s not like his gp ran some tests and declared a diagnosis.
(My gp ran some tests and told me my immune system was normal. And because my “long common colds” are 4 weeks, not 4-8 months, that was the end of that. Except i go out of my way to avoid being exposed to colds, and did prior to covid.)
In all fairness to him, I just saw him, had zero incidents between the last appointment and my airway was at 100%. I told him I was doing great. This is the first time since he put me on the inhalers that I have had major problems. I will bring this up at our next appointment… or possibly try to get in sooner.
This is good advice but in my particular case, my kid won’t wash his hands with soap and water. It’s on our loooong list of tasks to work on in therapy. He will allow his hands to be wiped with a wet washcloth… in fact he asks for it rather frequently because he can’t stand things on his hands. I can (and do) wash my own hands.
I will do this. Thanks.
I take calcium and Vitamin D when I remember… my psychiatrist recommended it for PMDD. I’m kind of a vitamin skeptic but you get to certain point with chronic illness where you’re like, sure, why not?
I’ve got my steroids (waiting on pharmacy.) Pretty confident I’ll be in good shape for Friday.
I’ve appreciated the discussion here. It’s educational.
With respect to Vitamin D, Sunlight Offers Surprise Benefit - It energizes infection fighting T cells.
That research was not done in humans, but rather in mice and in test tubes. I will wait until we get some human in vivo evidence before making such declarations.
Interesting idea, though. That light therapy might help that way.
I get seasonal affective disorder sometimes. Getting enough light may be one of those baseline health things, like getting enough vitamins.
I apologize the premature disrespect. 
I think this study included research done on humans:
“The above-mentioned effects of sunlight, especially UV radiation, on human health have been also widely reviewed. Plenty of excellent reviews covering the contrasting consequences of skin exposure to sunlight have been published” [17, 32–42]. cite
Well, there are 98 papers listed in that review article you linked to, and as far as I can see the ones involving testing on humans are about the immunosuppressive effects of sunlight. Is there a particular paper or three in that list that you can point to which shows definite immune benefits in human subjects?
And the conclusions of your cited review paper are pretty darned soft regarding benefits of phototherapy. Nowhere in their conclusions do they state they’ve found specific immune benefits.
Sunlight exposure cannot be considered only as a carcinogen nowadays, though the highly relevant mechanisms leading to immunosuppression and consequently to skin cancer development have been and are still very well characterized and the most reported in the literature. There is also abundant evidence showing that sunlight effects, especially of “very low doses,” are indeed beneficial and not only due to Vitamin D synthesis. We believe that plenty of work has yet to be done in the field of photoimmunology, which needs to cover the impact not only of “very low doses” of radiation, but also of exposure to non-UV light (focusing on the effects of various doses) on the immune system. We as immunologists and particularly photoimmunologists have to move forward from the milestone of UV-induced immunosuppression towards a more comprehensive analysis of the interaction of human beings with the environment, leading to the possibility of establishing new therapies, which might be useful in different pathologies and not only in those that require a specific suppression of the immune response.
That article does discuss extensively the immunosuppressive effects of light and talks about the sort of cancers that can come about due to excess exposure.
I agree with their conclusions, more research is needed. But I’m not sure the sub-sub specialty of photoimmunology will be changing their focus soon, since most of their dealings are with sun induced cancers which are as common as all get-out these days.
Ok, I admit this is pretty darned soft. I’m still going to get some sunlight. It makes me feel good.
I’m for sunlight, it makes for more vitamin D! And I look forward to more research as to whether it helps one’s immune system (at proper doses and wavelengths).