Can Sunshine Fight Cancer?
Posted by Tan Man on March 18, 2008
Fighting cancer with vitamin D
Healthy levels of serum vitamin D provide significant protection against many types of cancers, according to University of Maine researchers, who did a literature survey of vitamin D studies conducted in the past 37 years.
“These studies find that the higher the UV exposure, dietary intake and serum level of 25(OH)D, the lower the incidence and mortality from cancers of the breast, colon, lung, pancreas, prostate, melanoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” write UMaine researchers Betty Ingraham, Beth Bragdon and Anja Nohe in the journal “Current Medical Research and Opinion.“
Vitamin D, obtained from diet, supplements and sunlight, is essential in cell growth and function. In particular, calcitriol, an active form of vitamin D, has a critical role in regulating cellular mechanisms involved in cancer development.
But while epidemiological, preclinical and clinical trials provide overwhelming evidence that calcitriol can prevent cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, ovary and pancreas, as well as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, nearly all studies indicate that most people have below-normal levels of serum vitamin D.
The clinical research community is now revising upward recommendations for optimal serum levels and sensible levels of sun exposure.
The last time that the recommendations were set in 1997, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommended daily adult dietary intake of vitamin D at 400 IU. Since then, most researchers in the field believe that, for optimal health, intakes between 1,000-4,000 IU would lead to a more healthy serum level of approximately 75 nmol/L.
