Vitamin D and Cancer

[Ted Hutchinson]

These links lead to a couple of videos from this series (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=uctelevision+grassrootshealth&aq=f) They are over half an hour long and aimed at a medical audience so you may find them a little difficult. I found it best to download them so I can listed to bits several times to understand exactly what they are saying.

Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PsyaYNX1dw)

Connection with Vitamin D and Cancer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUR9JSmY3w)

I think they are all worth watching but the two on cancer are essential watching for anyone with the condition.

[comfortzone]

I just want to give you my sincere thanks for providing this information!

[simmons19]

Vitamin D for cancer

It sounds too good to be true ? a little inexpensive pill that could block the development of some cancers, strengthen bones, prevent multiple sclerosis and alleviate winter depression.

But it's not science fiction. The "new aspirin" could be Vitamin D. Just as we discovered that aspirin can guard against heart disease, Vitamin D could become a useful weapon in the fight against MS, osteoporosis, mild depression and one of the most devastating diseases of our time - cancer.

"As time has gone by, Vitamin D has raised its head as a sort of ambrosia for cancers," says Dr. Louise Parker, an epidemiologist and a world expert in the environmental exposures that can lead to cancer. Or, in the case of Vitamin D, the lack of exposure.

"One of the most important sources of Vitamin D is from the sun and through your skin," says Dr. Parker.

"Many parts of Canada don't get much sun in the winter. We've also been telling people to cover up and use sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Sunscreen actually impairs your (skin's ability) to make Vitamin D."

So the Canadian Cancer Society recommends that during the winter, Canadians take at least 1,000 units a day of Vitamin D, dubbed "the sunshine vitamin." Those units can be contained in a tiny pill that comes in a bottle of 100 tablets ranging from $5 to $10, depending on the brand name.

Dr. Parker says 1,000 units a day is well beyond what you can obtain from your diet. Vitamin D is a bit of a rare vitamin, appearing only in fatty fish, cod liver oil and egg yolks. Even if you were to sunbathe in southern climates, you would not take in 1,000 units.

"If you were to lie naked on a beach in the Bahamas, and I don't recommend that because of skin cancer, you cannot get up to the equivalent of 1,000 units of Vitamin D a day," says Dr. Parker.

She notes Vitamin D as a factor is turning up in study after study. It turns out people with lung and colon cancer are Vitamin D deficient. And it helps the body absorb calcium. In a study examining whether women who took Vitamin D had a lower risk of osteoporosis, it was found the women taking Vitamin D had stronger bones than those who did not take the vitamin. Years later, researchers went back to that study and found that the women who took Vitamin D also had fewer cancers.

But before Vitamin D becomes the "new aspirin," more research needs to be carried out.

Vitamin D works in very complicated ways, she says. It changes the way cells work. In fact, there is medical speculation that it may block cancer cell proliferation or improve immune system functions. But its role is not fully understood.

Lifestyle also has to be part of the equation. Dr. Parker is looking at how obesity, which we know can cause cancer, and exercise, which we know prevents cancer, could interact with Vitamin D.

"At the population level, I am trying to understand how all these things fit together," says Dr. Parker. "It's very complex."

Dr. Parker describes it as looking for a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. "We know some of the jigsaw pieces, but not all," she says.

Meanwhile, there is very little evidence that taking Vitamin D can harm you. Perhaps in huge doses it could cause kidney stones, but that has not been proven.

"On the average, 1,000 units a day is safe and is probably effective in reducing the risk of colon cancer, and maybe other cancers as well," says Dr. Parker.

So does she take Vitamin D and recommend it? Absolutely.

"I take 1,000 units of Vitamin D - one day on and one day off," she says.

[Ted Hutchinson]

So the Canadian Cancer Society recommends that during the winter, Canadians take at least 1,000 units a day of Vitamin D, dubbed "the sunshine vitamin." Those units can be contained in a tiny pill that comes in a bottle of 100 tablets ranging from $5 to $10, depending on the brand name.

Dr. Parker says 1,000 units a day is well beyond what you can obtain from your diet. Vitamin D is a bit of a rare vitamin, appearing only in fatty fish, cod liver oil and egg yolks. Even if you were to sunbathe in southern climates, you would not take in 1,000 units.

"If you were to lie naked on a beach in the Bahamas, and I don't recommend that because of skin cancer, you cannot get up to the equivalent of 1,000 units of Vitamin D a day," says Dr. Parker.


"On the average, 1,000 units a day is safe and is probably effective in reducing the risk of colon cancer, and maybe other cancers as well," says Dr. Parker.

So does she take Vitamin D and recommend it? Absolutely.

"I take 1,000 units of Vitamin D - one day on and one day off," she says.I am afraid that Dr Parker is NOT a reliable source of Vitamin D3 information.

Laying naked in the sun at noon when your shadow is shorter than your height produces around 1000iu every 5 minutes. So 20~30 minutes. depending on your skin colour, weight, latitude should produce sufficient except if you skin is brown or black in which case you will need 2/3 or 4/5 times longer exposure in northern latitudes.

Bear in mind that above latitude 40 it is unlikely sufficient UVB reaches the ground between October and February so this only applies between March to September.

If you were very clever and alternated short (20mins) sun exposure sessions with periods for the D3 near the skin surface to be absorbed, it is theoretically possible to get 10,000iu/d from sun exposure. (that's one of the reasons they chose 10,000iu as a safe upper limit.

The reason you do better with several short sessions rather than a long sun session is that the UVB turns d3 into suprasterols that the body doesn't use at all. It's a mechanism to stop us getting Vit d toxicity from sun exposure. But it does mean that after you've been in the sun 20~30 mins or so further time is counterproductive as the UVB is destroying D3 faster than it is being made.

You need to go inside/put clothes on, allow the skin to cool then have another short session.

But don't burn and it's probably best not to wash with soap immediately after sunning as that also may reduce the D3 on the skin surface.

The human body uses between 3000~5000iu daily. (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/77/1/204) Therefore between October~Feb who really thinks 1000iu/daily is adequate?
You may of course have stored D3 in the summer if every day you lay naked at noon but the half life of D3 is around 21 days.

Now imagine if you saved $ or £'s during the summer and put them in the bank and every 3 weeks those savings depreciated by 50%
It's bad enough not getting a very high rate of interest but imagine how much money you would need to save in the summer to last through the winter if every week from 1st October the value of your savings went down 17%.

If you want to keep the same high status associated with least breast cancer incidence you must at least take the amount daily that your body actually uses daily. Dr Davis of the heartscanblog, working with heart disease patients at latitude 43ish Wisconsin, finds his patients can manage to stay around 60ng 150nmol/l when the women take 5000iu/d and the men 6000iu.

The only way to find out if that is sufficient for you is to try it for 3 months (that's how long it takes most people to replete status) then have a 25(OH)D test, (http://www.grassrootshealth.net/d-action) Then either lower the supplement rate if your over 80ng (in fact up to 200ng does not produce adverse events but there is no known advantage to being over 60ng but 80ng is a natural level achieved by folks who live outdoors naked so is likely to be safe as the human species would not have survived evolving naked outdoors if it were harmful. )

So the safe upper limit is NOT 1000iu/d but 10,000iu/daily.

The amount most people should start on is 5000iu/d for 3 months then test to check that's enough.

Then if below 60ng ~ 150nmol/l add 1000iu/d extra for every 10ng 25nmol/l you need to get over the 60ng ~150nmol/l threshold. 100iu/d extra for every 1ng or 2.5nmol/l extra.

If you are above 80ng 150nmol/l you will need to reduce the amount you are currently taking by the same amount. If you stop taking D3 altogether then NATURAL DEPLETION RATE is 17% a week so if you were around 100ng minus 17% means in just one week without D3 supplements you will drop down to 83ng so you lose D3 much MUCH faster and easier than you save D3.

http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss230/tedhutchinson/th_chronicdiseasepreventionvitamind-1.jpgClick this to see the level you need to reduce BC incidence (http://www.grassrootshealth.org/_download/disease_incidence_prev_25ng_p_ml_bline072608.pdf)

[BrierRose]

This is very nice. It's informative and all the links are helpful. Thanks for posting this one.

[Ted Hutchinson]

http://img.youtube.com/vi/TQ-qekFoi-o/default.jpg?h=60&w=80&sigh=__517_EV_CaEAoXYwFXsIdRl2bKek=YouTube - Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It True? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ-qekFoi-o)
In a new study, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center used a complex computer prediction model to determine that intake of vitamin D3 and calcium would prevent 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer annually in the US and Canada. The researchers model also predicted that 75% of deaths from these cancers could be prevented with adequate intake of vitamin D3 and calcium. Join Carole Baggerly with GrassrootsHealth as she discuss this new research

Grassrootshealth D Action (http://www.grassrootshealth.net/d-action) this is probably the cheapest way to monitor your 25(OH)D status to ensure you stay around the level associated with least cancer incidence. Please share this information with your friends and on other blogs.

[Ted Hutchinson]

Reduced Prediagnostic 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Women with Breast Cancer: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19789365)Vitamin D status may affect risk of cancer.
In a cross-sectional study with a nested case-control analysis, we determined whether risk of breast cancer is associated with prediagnostic plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels and the effects of lifestyle characteristics known to influence vitamin D status on risk of breast cancer.

We studied 2,465 women without a prior history of breast cancer referred to a diagnostic mammography examination.
142 Cases were women diagnosed with an incident breast cancer.
420 Controls were women not diagnosed with a breast cancer matched to cases on age, menopausal status, and time of year of blood sampling.

Characteristics of cases and controls were assessed by a self-administrated questionnaire.

Blood samples were collected prior to the diagnostic mammography examination.

Cases had lower plasma 25OHD levels than controls.

Compared with the lowest third of 25OHD levels, risk of breast cancer was significantly reduced among women in the highest third.

Risk estimates were similar in women with an estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer.

Use of vitamin D supplements, sunbathing frequency, and fish intake was associated with 25OHD levels, but did not affect the risk of breast cancer. (this means that no one among the total number of women wer taking sufficient vitamin D from sun/fish/supplements to signficantly alter their 25(OH)D which is not surprising as the amounts in normal over the counter vit/mins are too low to do any good and most people don't sunbathe naked or each fish ten times daily)

Accordingly, risk of breast cancer was inversely associated with 25OHD levels.

For those who don't understand science speak that means
the higher the 25(OH)D level the LOWER the risk of Breast cancer
and the reverse is also true,
Those with lower levels of vitamin D had the higher the risk of breast cancer.

But you don't have to stay in the high risk group.
You can spend 2.5p daily takes 5000iu/daily vitamin D and be in the low risk group.