A new study published in Cancer Dietary Supplementation shows that higher levels of vitamin D are associated with a reduced risk of cancer.
A new study conducted at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Dr. Cedric Garland, has found that higher levels of vitamin D, specifically serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, are associated with a decreased risk of cancer.
In this new study involving a randomized clinical trial of 1,169 women and a prospective cohort study of 1,135 women, the team sought to pinpoint the blood level of vitamin D needed to effectively reduce the risk of cancer. The marker of vitamin D studied was 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the main form in the blood.
This study determined that the age-adjusted incidence of cancer was 1,020 cases per 100,000 person-years in the Lappe cohort and 722 per 100,000 person-years in the GrassrootsHealth cohort. Women with 25(OH)D concentrations of 40 ng/ml or more had a 67 percent lower risk of cancer than the women with levels of 20 ng/ml or less, supporting the claim that cancer incidence declined with higher 25(OH)D.
Dr. Garland does not suggest an optimum route of daily intake of vitamin D, or one particular method of intake over another (such as sunlight exposure, diet, or vitamin supplementation). He said that this study simply clarifies that a serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D at 40 ng/ml, reduced the rick of cancer, with additional benefits at higher levels. These findings support an inverse association between 25(OH)D and risk of cancer. The data suggested that by increasing serum 25(OH)D concentrations to a minimum of 40 ng/ml in the general population would likely and significantly reduce cancer rates and subsequent mortality. The prevention of cancer, by taking Vitamin D as a nutritional supplement , will be essential to reversing the current upward
trend of cancer incidence worldwide. It has been determined that people residing at higher latitudes, resulting in less sunlight exposure, were more likely to develop Vitamin D deficiencies.
These people also had higher rates of colon cancer. Other studies found that vitamin D deficiencies is also linked to other cancers, including breast, lung, and bladder.
Indeed, it is prudent to include vitamin D supplementation as part of a cancer prevention measure.
