Ra Segal, MD, MPH

In a recent letter to the editor, “25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is key to analyzing vitamin D’s effects” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:472), Dr. Grant links vitamin D supplementation with important health outcomes. He concludes that the positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 was only 5.9% in people with higher concentrations of 25(OH)D vs 12.5% in those with lower concentrations. This is a flawed conclusion on the face of it, because the great confabulatory factor is behavior. Is it possible that those more likely to take supplemental vitamin D do so as a result of overall healthier lifestyles and choices (eg, vaccinations)? As health care representatives, we must be very careful about the data we publish and the commentary we attach to it, lest we advertise inadvertent follies. I see so much of that in our “peer-reviewed literature.”

I came to medicine as a chemist, and the rigors of peer review impressed upon the hard (fundamental) sciences are markedly different from those we “claim” adherence to in medicine. I find that some of the medical literature and study designs fall short of what would pass muster in the fundamental science industry. That is a shame! Such statements, as discussed here, have to be served for public consumption, and even to our colleagues, with a generous helping of skepticism and qualification.

RA Segal, MD, MPH
Gainesville, FL

In a recent letter to the editor, “25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is key to analyzing vitamin D’s effects” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:472), Dr. Grant links vitamin D supplementation with important health outcomes. He concludes that the positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 was only 5.9% in people with higher concentrations of 25(OH)D vs 12.5% in those with lower concentrations. This is a flawed conclusion on the face of it, because the great confabulatory factor is behavior. Is it possible that those more likely to take supplemental vitamin D do so as a result of overall healthier lifestyles and choices (eg, vaccinations)? As health care representatives, we must be very careful about the data we publish and the commentary we attach to it, lest we advertise inadvertent follies. I see so much of that in our “peer-reviewed literature.”

I came to medicine as a chemist, and the rigors of peer review impressed upon the hard (fundamental) sciences are markedly different from those we “claim” adherence to in medicine. I find that some of the medical literature and study designs fall short of what would pass muster in the fundamental science industry. That is a shame! Such statements, as discussed here, have to be served for public consumption, and even to our colleagues, with a generous helping of skepticism and qualification.

RA Segal, MD, MPH
Gainesville, FL

In a recent letter to the editor, “25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is key to analyzing vitamin D’s effects” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:472), Dr. Grant links vitamin D supplementation with important health outcomes. He concludes that the positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 was only 5.9% in people with higher concentrations of 25(OH)D vs 12.5% in those with lower concentrations. This is a flawed conclusion on the face of it, because the great confabulatory factor is behavior. Is it possible that those more likely to take supplemental vitamin D do so as a result of overall healthier lifestyles and choices (eg, vaccinations)? As health care representatives, we must be very careful about the data we publish and the commentary we attach to it, lest we advertise inadvertent follies. I see so much of that in our “peer-reviewed literature.”

I came to medicine as a chemist, and the rigors of peer review impressed upon the hard (fundamental) sciences are markedly different from those we “claim” adherence to in medicine. I find that some of the medical literature and study designs fall short of what would pass muster in the fundamental science industry. That is a shame! Such statements, as discussed here, have to be served for public consumption, and even to our colleagues, with a generous helping of skepticism and qualification.

RA Segal, MD, MPH
Gainesville, FL