Cutting down vitamin D tests could help lower carbon cost of healthcare
HT/David Archibald
More ridiculous counting of angels dancing on the head of pins from nitwits searching every corner of human activity for the dreaded carbon footprint.
Unnecessary vitamin D testing in Australia is costing our health care system up to $87 million and creating a significant carbon footprint which otherwise could be avoidable, says researchers.
Unnecessary vitamin D testing in Australia is costing our healthcare system up to $87 million and is contributing to the sector’s significant but avoidable carbon footprint, say researchers.
A study examining the climate impact of low-value healthcare activity in Australia has found that unnecessary vitamin D tests generated carbon emissions equivalent to a car driving from Sydney to Perth 59 times.
The researchers say in 2020 unnecessary vitamin D tests in Australia cost the healthcare system over $87 million (AUD) and had a carbon footprint of 28,000 to 42,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (kg CO2e).
The carbon footprint from vitamin D tests was calculated from the embedded emissions in the blood collection equipment such as needles, syringes and glass tubes. They have to be manufactured, distributed and disposed of, all of which generates carbon emissions.
Reducing unnecessary vitamin D tests could help lower the carbon footprint of healthcare in the country.
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/cutting-down-vitamin-d-tests-could-help-lower-carbon-cost-of-healthcare/
David noted in his tip to WUWT:
Vitamin D blood tests in Australia produce 37 tonnes per annum of CO2. This is reason enough to reduce their environmental load. A 787 flying from Australia to London nonstop will produce 270 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
From the article. It’s worse than we thought/think/imagine
Carbon costs most likely an ‘underestimate’
The researchers say the estimate of carbon emissions and costs from unnecessary vitamin D tests in Australia is most likely an underestimation. The analysis used Medicare records, which means tests not covered by Medicare were not included in their calculations.
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/cutting-down-vitamin-d-tests-could-help-lower-carbon-cost-of-healthcare/
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Anything more advanced than living in a mud hut and cooking over dried cow pats is unclean to a proper green.
Even then, climate change won’t stop. If for some bizarre reason the climate ever stops changing, then we’re in real trouble.
So long as Vitamin D deficiency is a possibility, testing of levels need to be carried out. Vitamin D is necessary to build and maintain strong bones.
Vitamin D deficiency causes osteoporosis (thin brittle bones) in older people and rickets (weak and bendable bones) in children.
Vitamin D levels must be monitored in these individuals to aid in their treatments.
This argument is as silly as complaining about the carbon footprint involved in diagnosing and treating any other disease.
imagine the “footprint” of all the RAT tests and the power running the labs for the dodgybrothers “proper” tests, millions of them, funny that didnt rate mention isnt it?
I remember adding it up a while ago. Each PCR test is billed on Medicare at $80. In Victoria alone there has been over 20 million tests done… that’s ~$1.6 billion for the children of all Victorians to pay for. That just the PCR testing, look at other measures like cleaning. The amount spent on cleaning just trams in Victoria went from $8 million to over $30 million per year. Next year the budget is over $40 million.
There are guaranteed to be so many rorts that the rorts will have rorts on them. This money isn’t free, it’s lost opportunity cost and money stolen from the future. It will take generations to recover from this, if we ever do.
It is EASY to prevent vitamin D by just getting out in the sun and eat vitamin D rich food which is easy and even take the Cod liver oil supplement which is easy.
Lifestyle decisions is the major factor in having enough Vitamin D going to a doctor is indeed a waste of time for most people.
not that easy for some. hemochromatosis (genetic mutation) maybe involved.
False since it has nothing to do with Vitamin D levels in the body and not difficult to treat but it requires diagnosis to find it first.
Edited to state that I meant Vitamin D isn’t difficult to treat but does require a doctor to diagnose it.
ok I’ll take your word over hemotologists and oncologists I deal with lately.
nice to know you’re an expert in high ferritin I can call upon for free anytime.
Notice that you never backed up your “opinion” while I was a patient for a year about blood disorders which included low iron levels and undersized blood cells had to read up to help to get better along with a 20-year Hematologist doctor who for a while was very worried about me.
It is not as easy as you think. There are multiple studies worldwide thanks to Covid that show a strong correlation between Vit D levels and Covid severity.
Many things affect Vit D levels. Living above the 35th parallel is one. Skin color is another. Darker-skinned people have much greater difficulty getting enough Vit. D from the sun. That was an evolutionary trade-off for protecting humans from the bad effects of too much sun but now that dark-skinned people live in places that are not sunny, they have lower Vit D levels.
Cultural habits are another. Arabs (Muslims) in Israel per several Israeli studies have much lower levels than others in Israel due to women covering most of their bodies when outside the home and Arab men and women do, also, due to their dietary habits which are low in fish and meat. They have much poorer Covid outcomes than non-Arabs, too.
Even for light-skinned people, it can be difficult to get enough Vit D from the sun as sunscreen lotion blocks the Vit. D from being absorbed.
Scandinavian countries, even though they have a diet rich in fish, supplement Vid. D via their healthcare system for much of the year outside of summer as they have little to no sunshine for months.
People in nursing homes, or care facilities, or those with chronic illnesses who are at the greatest risk from Covid (and other respiratory diseases,) rarely get enough sunshine. I supervised my hospital’s Respiratory program in nursing homes for a number of years. Other than the smokers, it was rare to see the residents outside in sunny times of the year and never in winter, except, again for the smokers. Also, frequently, the elderly consume fewer calories on the whole from my non-scientific observations. The elderly, with some exceptions, are not noted for being big eaters.
I have saved multiple studies on this because I was interested as I am a retired Respiratory Therapist and because I was born a redhead and, though my hair is gray now, my skin is still that of a redhead. I burn very easily and avoid the sun.
I will be happy to post links to studies on this if you desire.
I have two brothers who are Red haired, and they never have any problems with their health heck they are the only ones who still have a head full of hair while the other four brothers are balding me the least, but I am the youngest at 62.
I had a job that had me outdoors all day long for most of the year it was easy for me to get enough vitamin D and at the 46th latitude.
I am mainly talking from the American point of view in a blog in America in English never meant to include the entire world.
I am speaking from the American point of view, as well. I included other nations which are far sunnier to demonstrate that even in the ME and other sunny locals, people can suffer from low D levels. As I said, dark-skinned people in the northern latitudes are at a distinct disadvantage in being able to get Vit. D from the sun.
Regarding red hair, I, also, have two redheaded brothers, a sister-in-law with red hair, and two nieces and a nephew with red hair. I would say you are very fortunate to have been able to work outside and not burn. Neither myself nor any of my relatives with red hair can do that. You are the exception, not the rule and you are very lucky.
I never said that one with red hair is unhealthy. I am in my 70s and take exactly one prescription med and it’s the same one I’ve taken for years, long before I got old. I consider myself blessed.
If I did not make myself clear in my first post, I apologize. I do hope this clears up any issues with that post.
To get the minimum production of natural Vit D, a caucasian must be outdoors in full sun for 45 minutes, with minimal clothing and no sunscreen each day between noon and 2pm. Those with darker pigmentation will need 1 to 1.25 hours. That is for summer months.
For most latitudes, there are only 3 months where adequate sunlight is available for minimum Vit D production. Most folks spend less than 10 minutes in the sunlight each day. They travel from one air conditioned pod to another in full clothing.
Nearly every person in the US and EU needs Vit D supplementation.
Yes, that is a reasonable opinion.
I eat fish and take cod liver oil mostly in the fall to springtime frame.
“outdoors in full sun for 45 minutes”
For.some.people.that.is.a.problem..Consider.autoimmune.disorders..My.wife.can’t.take.that.much.sun.without.getting.sick..
Unless you are lucky to live in the Big House by the sea.
No cow pats as the ecoloons don’t like cows either.
But they might become necessary if industrialized fertilizer production is halted. BS is the only viable alternative to feed a growing society.
Well that could also mean a bigger government, they produce massive amounts of BS.
Hmmm…z
Perhaps a smaller society is in order (at least that’s what THEY want)…
They’re getting closer to the truth with the Vitamin D thing: Living in itself is an affront to Gaia so die, carbon-based scum!
The levels of stupidity have reached a new low……
And how much carbon did The National Tribune waste posting this useless diatribe of climate diarrhea?
These pathetic cr*p repeaters wouldn’t know a real news item if it jumped up and bit them on the ear!!
Don’t you mean a new high? Low levels of stupidity are a good thing, no?
Generally, I just love low levels of stupidity. Bring on the low levels of stupidity!
I don’t know about the ‘anthropocene’ but we certainly seem to be in the ‘retardocene’.
That is the most accurate description of the idiot-child planned climate that I’ve read yet. Retardocene. Needs to get wide – spread distribution.
I agree but I’m pretty sure anything containing “retard” is verboten these days. Unfortunately, Mentaldisabilityocene just doesn’t cut it.
Yep. Just when you think people can’t get any dumber, they go and prove you wrong.
Shades of Brave New World, who decides if a test for Vitamin D (presumably D3) levels is unnecessary? Since a Doctor orders these tests I would have assumed that they would be the best to decide if these tests are necessary or not.
Since D3 is essential for boosting the immune system and a good level will help prevent the patient from catching unnecessary colds and flu. Especially in a winter cold and flu season.
Perhaps these researchers would also feel the same way about people testing for Covid-19? My figures accumulated from our state health services daily reporting show the average rate of people who tested positive to be between 9 to 22 percent depending on the various waves and as thousands of these tests are done every day then obviously many would meet their criteria of unnecessary. Or would they?
Not to mention bone formation. Why D is added to children’s milk.
and rickets is appearing in the uk again prior and during covid
gee i wonder why? low nutrient sodas plastic cheeses and no outdoors play
Ah,covidiocy, the real issue at hand!
Next Up:The despicable carbon footprint of Ivor McTain and his interference with Hydrassic Infections.
Webmaster,somepageshaveanoddfaultwiththecommentssection.
Webmaster,somepageshaveanoddfaultwiththecommentssection.
I have that issue in Firefox but not in Safari. Go figure.
c’mon blokes you’re full of dunky dust!
Climatistas represent an enormous source of deadly CO2. Worse, it is very hot, exacerbating the existential crisis. Eliminating these dangerous emitters would go a long way toward a utopian, carbonless future.
Presumable you are being sarcastic. There is nothing deadly about normal atmospheric CO2 or even 10X ‘normal’. The OSHA limit for continuous exposure is 5000 ppmv.
Very, very difficult to sow fear of atmospheric CO2 among the ignorant masses with a number like that, 5000 ppm/over eight hours. Might as well ask them to count all the stars in a given quadrant of the night sky. 😏😁
Maybe out context, sorry but had to post. My title..
DC Swamp creature with dead EV, saved by WV miners
https://www.theepochtimes.com/west-virginia-coal-miners-help-stranded-washingtonian-with-dead-electric-car_4711397.html?utm_source=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-09-05-3&utm_medium=email&est=GaPN2dnCBivnAJrAj5RfhF7wt6Dt1hVtFYMNRYXsmKj7SUY0u6GWcdjM3BwuEBzpgqvAd1s%3D
hope you can see
Rarely is blood tested for just one item. Probably well over 99% of the testing materials would have had to been manufactured in any case.
Why let reality intrude on a ‘scary’ non-story written by innumerates?
Vitamin D level is not included in the standard blood test
I ask my doctor for it to be included.
He forgot last time
In October I’ll remind him again
I have been taking Vit D supplements for over 50 years
The test is useful for me
My vitamin D level was too high a year ago when I had doubled my intake to prevent Covid. No side effects but a high blood level.
Vitamin D is my vaccine, along with Vitamin C, zinc and quercetin.
I did reduce my vitamin D supplements by 3/4 a year ago
The pandemic is over, so it does not matter much now.
Sunshine is better for Vitamin D but some of us sunburn and get skin cancer
My age and health problems make me a high risk for Covid, along with the wife, who is taking the same supplements. So far we’ve had no Covid, no Omicron, no influenza (ever) and no common colds in many years.
Same here, Richard.
Vitamin D gives 67%, 48%, 29% improvement against Covid19 for early, late, and prophylactic treatment, based on 89 treatment studies. Details at Vitamin D for COVID-19: real-time analysis of all 300 studies (c19vitamind.com)
More meds reviewed for Covid19 effectiveness at COVID-19 early treatment: real-time analysis of 2,088 studies (c19early.com)
‘Read the full article here.‘
Thanks, but no thanks…
$87,000,000 with a population of 25 million!?!? That’s a lot of needles or a symptom of free health care.. Doesn’t pass the sniff test.
Doctors likely get to bill based on asking for and looking at the results of the tests. D test would be harmless to the patient and generates income for the doctors?
bill to see doc tests are private labs in aus anyway so charged HIGH
and then yes often a follow up charged visit unless youve got a decent doc will phone follow up lower charges to medicare or you
I have a decent doc but I live in the US, so that may not apply to your situation. She just calls me or sends me the report.
But docs don’t do the blood tests, labs do, at least in the US, so I fail to see how docs make money from this.
I think you meant “free”.
This one is personal. We live in South Florida. Lots of sunshine producing vitamin D.
NOT. Thanks to fear of skin cancer, 1/3 of Floridians are vit D deficient due to cover up and sunscreen!
My significant other was clinically diagnosed as severely deficient, as she has a hereditary/Sun caused skin condition diagnosed as senile pupera, an aging disease of the connective tissue between the derma and underlying muscle. Resulted in random purple ‘bruising’, and now as it progresses full bleeding arm skin lesions. So she religiously covers up, slathers, and so became severely vit D deficient. 2000 IUD/day vit D supplements. No global warming impacts.
When warmunists are grasping at such slender small straws, you know skeptics are winning and alarmists have created mass psychosis amongst the otherwise well educated..
.
Exactly, we are in Qld Australia and roughly the same distance from the equator in the southern part of the state as Florida is. We have the same issue, many hide from the sun for reasons of skin Cancer and many of our elderly also end up being Vit D deficient.
Hope your SO finds help with the supplements.
What about methane?
https://bit.ly/3KSmGhF
And one source of methane is the “natural gas” all humans pass one or more times a day. Perhaps these headline-seekers can publish an article pointing out how much methane is passed by the world’s population of bi-pedal mammals while gently suggesting that the world should reduce the number of bi-pedal mammals wandering around. Global warming and all …
The old methane trick/s. In the lab in a dry test atmosphere, Methane is much more potent but shorter lasting than CO2. But in the real world with humidity, methane contributes NOTHING, because it’s IR absorption bands are completely covered by water vapor bands.
Thank you for your comment. My little story about methane was meant to poke fun at the anti-vitamin-D-testers rather than make any real scientific point.
A question … In areas with extremely low humidity (desert?) would there be some methane absorption of IR? And at cold and dry (absolutely dry) high altitudes would there be some IR absorption by methane?
Good question…if CO2 or methane for that matter was a significant potent greenhouse gas, we would see some evidence in Antarctica at the south pole where there is very little water vapor, due to its being a really dry place. The average year round temperature is -49.3 C ( -56 F) and the warmest measurement ever at the south pole (elevation 9,300 feet) was -12.3 C in 2011.
If CO2 and CH4 (methane) had much effect, you would think we would be able to measure it there. But to the best of my knowledge, there has been no warming trend there, although we haven’t had thermometers for long taking temperatures there either. Obviously, Antarctica won’t be melting anytime soon, no matter what happens.
Speed, haven’t you heard? Greatly reducing the number of bi-pedals is all part of The Plan. Some of the NWO/CAGW/WEF types have stated the bi-pedal population needs to be reduced to 500,000 to Save the Planet. That would definitely dwarf all other genocides in history.
I know it’s hard to believe but it’s amazing what these folks are willing to say out loud!
There is a large prospective study of health professionals done thru Harvard which has been going on for more than 25 years with 25,000 participants to start now about 15K. The studies have looked at diet extensively and published on the benefits of Vit D3. Those and other research show a number of attributes to Vit D3 including reduced colon cancer, breast cancer and of course the positive effects on Covid patients who have high levels.
Vit D is manufactured in the body by exposure to sunlight and of course sun exposure is very beneficial for other reasons as well.
It’s a steep downward slope of intellectual dishonesty. Of course it can only get worse – if we let the inmates run the asylum.
Yep. A new level of stupid achieved. I get Vit D checked regularly, and it is never on its own, but with a batch of other tests. I bet they also have not calculated the carbon footprint saved by proactive healthcare measures that keep people out of hospital and all the benefits that go with that.
How do these lunatics get support for the crap they produce.
Ban, Censor, Eliminate Vitamin D, period!
Oviously sarcasm and humor, but…
vit D (d3) has good empirical evidence that it helps reduce symptoms of the dreaded covid-19.
And, now in Cali, doctor speaking the facts about non-approved government “health” dogma, can suffer consequences. Anticipate vit D supplements being outlawed in the Peoples’ Republic soon.
my doc started testing me 10 years ago for the other benefits of sufficient D3 levels, especially here in Northerly latitudes, where most of us are deficient. Researching a little helped me understand.
for you older folks, web search or other search for senescent cell death and telomere length (lengthing)
What do you suppose is the carbon cost of unnecessary climate change research?
Since the science is settled, research on climate change and the supposed effects of climate change (major source of research funding in practically every natural and applied science field) should immediately cease due to its massive carbon footprint.
How much carbon pollution could be saved if the computer models for carbon pollution were shut down/turned off. s/
These people are dumb as rocks and make me sick.
Worshippers of the Earth Mother have always opposed “modern” medicine. Thwarting Her will is a sin.
Meta-Analyses Confirm Vitamin D Defends Against COVID
Australia’s National Tribune has a long and inglorious tradition. In the 1950s it was a Communist Party rag.
Don’t you know that vitamin D3 is main enemy of the covid fear-porn industries. After all if you have good level of it you will be healthy and very resistant to covid-19. Climate change narrative and covid related mandates/restrictions go hand-in-hand.
Twice I have tried to get a D test from my provider and twice it didn’t happen.
First time at the beginning of Covid I asked a GP to order a test for me. He said he’d never ordered one and didn’t know how to do it. He changed the subject and I didn’t push it.
A couple of weeks ago a cardiologist ordered a panel of blood tests. I asked her to add a D test. She said a note said wasn’t suggested. I said indulge me. She said your insurance probably won’t cover it. I said no problem. She said Ok. The results came back, no Vit D.
What’s going on?
Try asking for some prophylactic ivermectin.
I just get my Vitamin I from Tractor Supply. The pills would be nice, but the topical solution isn’t a hassle at all.
I have a list on a spread sheet of my meds and vitamins to save writing them all out on forms. I have ‘Ivermectin’ listed; dosage, frequency, and the reason as “Flu Prevention”
Since I added it to the list, I have received zero reaction or comment from two different doctors. 😁 They know.
My GP in the US won’t give prophylactic ivermectin but she did lay in her own supply to give to her patients if they got Covid symptoms with instructions to call her immediately. She did this to avoid my state’s pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for it.
She has many elderly patients. She had ten get Covid and she gave them Ivermectin. All did great. She only lost one patient, an elderly man who had symptoms for 11 days and only called her while he was in an ambulance on his way to ER. He died. Not my docs fault.
its NOT a hard to do test , or expensive, they DO need to take the blood and wrap the vial immediately in foil to keep any light out thats the only “hard” part about it
ask for a thyroid test and most labs run T3 fast easier cheaper for them. BUT T4 is the one that gives a better real result of levels, and you DO have to push for that to be done properly
So how does it produce 42,000 Kg of CO2 ?
I suggest when your blood is drawn, you discuss that with the personnel at the lab and see if you can get it done that way. My doc hands me a lab sheet to take to the lab, so I can see exactly what she ordered. If you can, see if you can do the same.
Pfizer saved a lot of CO2 emissions by not having many tests for their ‘vaccine’.
Wish I could upvote that a thousand times
45,000 test volunteers isn’t many tests ?
They followed them for a very, very short period of time which was heretofore unheard of for a vaccine. All other vaccines took 4 to 15 years before being deemed safe for distribution.
The latest Pfizer booster for Omicron was tested on 8 mice, no humans but was approved. Now, do you see the problem?
People still refer to the MRNA spike protein shots as a vaccine, knowing that many, many people who’ve been jabbed twice and boosted twice have gotten covid, and more than once.
This is so regular in fact with covid shots, that it became known as a crisis of the vaccinated.
During these last two years what number of shots are we at now, five? That’s not how vaccines work.
Besides, from Gates to Birx, these folks are coming clean, I guess due to reality slapping them in the face?
Time to Press Charges: Deborah Birx Failed to Tell the Public What She Knew About the Shots
https://rumble.com/v1dobzl-time-to-press-charges-deborah-birx-failed-to-tell-the-public-what-she-knew-.html
Video on Twitter
Bill Gates discusses Covid at the Munich Security Conference
https://bit.ly/3J66xU3
Video on Twitter
“Sadly, the virus itself – particularly the variant called Omicron – is a type of vaccine,” said Gates. “That is, it creates both B-cell and T-cell immunity, and it’s done a better job of getting out to the world population than we have with vaccines.”
Also, here.
Bill Gates claims Omicron did a ‘better job’ at spreading immunity to the global population than vaccine distribution
https://bit.ly/34R51Gw
2/19/22
In the USA alone, there have been 250,000,000 test volunteers.
(minor/significant coercion & misleading propaganda notwithstanding)
The extension of this logic is that large amounts of any testing is unnecessary.
Take blood alcohol testing by police. Most drivers return negative results. If you assume that most of the tests are negative and are always going to be negative then you can safely remove them and, clearly, only test drunk people.
Roadside blood alcohol not only has large amounts of vehicles being forced to idle while the test is conducted, but also a police van that sits with a generator running the entire period.
CARBON POLLUTION!!! Clearly.
In fact why test anything at all. Everyone is going to die. Ergo health care for people above the useful working age is clearly a burden and causing CO2. The health system itself could be cut and the workers transferred into new Green Jobs for the Green Economy.
Clearly.
Lets face it, the people who write these sorts of reports are not doing it to expand the greater pool of human knowledge, they are doing it for the attention.
Soylent Green is People
Whatever happened carbon offsets?
Just cancel one 787 flight to offset 7 or so years of vitamin D testing.
They are doing that now, cancelling so many flights every day that we no longer need other cuts or taxes. Air canada alone has cancelled dozens of daily flights.
Hooray the war is over, call it all off