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It's the greatest cancer prevention breakthrough, ever. But you
wouldn't know it. The report, published in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, not the prestigious New England Journal of
Medicine or Journal of the American Medical Association. The breakthrough
- Vitamin D3, the sunshine vitamin, in dietary supplements,
reduced the risk of cancer by an astounding 60-77% in a 3-year
study involving 1179 healthy postmenopausal women.
The original press release:
Creighton Study Shows Vitamin D Reduces Cancer Risk
OMAHA, Neb. - Most Americans and others are not taking enough vitamin
D, a fact that may put them at significant risk for developing cancer,
according to a landmark study conducted by Creighton University
School of Medicine.
The four-year, randomized study followed 1,179 healthy, postmenopausal
women from rural eastern Nebraska.* Participants taking calcium,
as well as a quantity of vitamin D3 nearly three times the U.S.
government's Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) for middle-age adults,
showed a dramatic 60 percent or greater reduction in cancer risk
than women who did not get the vitamin.
The results of the study, conducted between 2000 and 2005, were
reported in the June 8 online edition of the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition.
"The findings are very exciting. They confirm what a number
of vitamin D proponents have suspected for some time but that, until
now, have not been substantiated through clinical trial," said
principal investigator Joan Lappe, Ph.D., R.N., Creighton professor
of medicine and holder of the Criss/Beirne Endowed Chair in the
School of Nursing. "Vitamin D is a critical tool in fighting
cancer as well as many other diseases."
Other Creighton researchers involved in the study included Robert
Recker, M.D.; Robert Heaney, M.D.; Dianne Travers-Gustafson, M.S.;
and K. Michael Davies, Ph.D.
Research participants were all 55 years and older and free of known
cancers for at least 10 years prior to entering the Creighton study.
Subjects were randomly assigned to take daily dosages of 1,400-1,500
mg supplemental calcium, 1,400-1,500 mg supplemental calcium plus
1,100 IU of vitamin D3, or placebos. National Institutes of Health
funded the study.
Over the course of four years, women in the calcium/vitamin D3
group experienced a 60 percent decrease in their cancer risk than
the group taking placebos.
On the premise that some women entered the study with undiagnosed
cancers, researchers then eliminated the first-year results and
looked at the last three years of the study. When they did that,
the results became even more dramatic with the calcium/vitamin D3
group showing a startling 77 percent cancer-risk reduction.
In the three-year analysis, there was no statistically significant
difference in cancer incidence between participants taking placebos
and those taking just calcium supplements.
Through the course of the study, 50 participants developed non-skin
cancers, including breast, colon, lung and other cancers.
Lappe said further studies are needed to determine whether the
Creighton research results apply to other populations, including
men, women of all ages, and different ethnic groups. While the study
was open to all ethnic groups, all participants were Caucasian,
she noted.
There is a growing body of evidence that a higher intake of vitamin
D may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of cancer, high
blood pressure, fibromyalgia, diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis,
and rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.
Humans make their own vitamin D3 when they are exposed to sunlight.
In fact, only 10-15 minutes a day in a bright summer sun creates
large amounts of the vitamin, Lappe said. However, people need to
exercise caution since the sun's ultraviolet B rays also can cause
skin cancer; sunscreen blocks most vitamin D production.
In addition, the latitude at which you live and your ancestry also
influence your body's ability to convert sunlight into vitamin D.
People with dark skin have more difficulty making the vitamin. Persons
living at latitudes north of the 37th parallel - Omaha is near the
41st parallel - cannot get their vitamin D naturally during the
winter months because of the sun's angle.
Experts generally agree that the RDA** for vitamin D needs to be
increased substantially, however there is debate about the amount.
Supplements are available in two forms - vitamin D2 and vitamin
D3. Creighton researchers recommend vitamin D3 , because it is more
active and thus more effective in humans.
* Study participants came from the Nebraska counties of Douglas,
Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Saunders, Washington, Sarpy, Burt and Butler.
** RDA recommendations for vitamin D are 200 IU/d, birth-age 50;
400 IU/d, 50-70 years; and 600 IU/d, 70 years and older.
Note: You will be pleased to know that we
have had a high grade vitamin D3 supplement available for over 3
years. The study (typical for narrow tests devised by the pharma
industry) did not test for trace minerals. They are also critically
important.
Trace
Minerals with D3 Supplement »
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