Could Vitamin D Supplementation Lower Breast Cancer What about Marin County

What Does Vitamin D Have to do with Breast Cancer Could Vitamin D be Related to Breast Cancer in Marin County, California

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco you have the bay on your right, the ocean on your left and Marin County before you. Marin may have some of the "hippest" people and prettiest scenery around but researchers have long been trying to determine why largely white, affluent Marin County also has a higher than average rate of breast cancer.

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Studies Point to Some Relationship Between Breast Cancer and Vitamin D but What

There seems to be some relationship between Vitamin D and breast cancer but what that is has not been made clear. Women with low vitamin D levels may have an increased risk for the most aggressive breast cancers,research suggests.

Several studies have suggested a link between low vitamin D levels and breast cancer risk. Back in 2008, a report from Toronto researchers concluded "Vitamin D deficiency is common at breast cancer diagnosis and is associated with poor prognosis". Also researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center examined vitamin D levels in 155 breast cancer patients in the months before or after they had surgery to treat their disease. They found sub optimal vitamin D levels to be highly predictive of the presence of biological markers associated with more aggressive tumors.



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What Does Marin County have to do with Vitamin D and Breast Cancer

In the case of Marin, a small pilot study of women determined through testing to be at high risk for breast cancer, found them to be almost twice as likely to have a variant of a vitamin D receptor as the overall population of 338 in the study. The study concluded "The high frequency of the VDR Apa1 A2/A2 homozygous polymorphism in women designated as elevated risk for breast cancer by the polyfactorial risk model might be related to the high incidence rates of breast cancer in Marin County, CA. Vitamin D supplementation could modify risk of breast cancer in this population."







According to BreastCancer.org "Research suggests that women with low levels of vitamin D have a higher risk of breast cancer. Vitamin D may play a role in controlling normal breast cell growth and may be able to stop breast cancer cells from growing".

Marin County’s High Breast Cancer Rate May be Tied to Genetics

Frequency of vitamin D deficiency at breast cancer diagnosis and association with risk of

The association between breast cancer prognostic indicators and serum 25-OH vitamin D levels.

Low Vitamin D levels and Breast Cancer

STILL ANOTHER REPORT ASKS IS LOW VITAMIN D BAD FOR THE HEALTH LOWER VITAMIN D HIGHER RISK OF HEART ATTACK AND HEART PROBLEMS

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How do I love thee Vitamin D? Let me count the ways. Still another medical report has appeared about the putative relationship between Vitamin D and health. Earlier the Archives of Internal Medicine had a report about a relationship between low Vitamin D and heart attacks. Now another report says "Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels (which are ways of measuring Vitamin D in the body) are independently associated with all-cause and cardiovascular (heart) mortality. (But) A causal relationship has yet to be proved by intervention trials using vitamin D".



Now it is Vitamin D and the risk of heart attack and heart problems .It seems like Vitamin D has arrived in the medical spot light. Recently I wrote in healty medical Blog that the Canadian Cancer Society has recommended that many people take Vitamin D and I also scoped out a report that said that women with breast cancer who had low levels of Vitamin D did less well prognosis wise. Now fanning the flames of Vitamin D popularity is a study that says "Low levels of 25(OH)D (Vitamin D) are associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in a graded manner, even after controlling for factors known to be associated with coronary artery disease" (heart problems related to the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle itself with blood).



The report about Vitamin D and heart and all cause mortality was published in the June 23 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.In the study, Dr. Harald Dobnig, from the Medical University of Graz in Austria, and colleagues collected data on vitamin D levels among almost 3,300 patients undergoing angiography. Angiography is the medical procedure where dye is injected to "light up" the heart coronary arteries when viewed with xray to check for coronary blockage.



"After more than seven years of follow-up, 737 patients had died, 463 of them from cardiovascular disease. Dobnig's team found that death rates from any cause, and from cardiovascular disease, were higher among people with the lowest levels of vitamin D". "Although not proved, it seems possible that at least part of this effect may be due to lowering of a risk profile promoting atherosclerosis and preventing cardiovascular end points," they concluded".,br>

In a related story A UCLA Scientist Thinks Omega 3 is Good for Your Thinking





"Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that similar observations with low vitamin E and beta carotene levels and cardiovascular mortality were not confirmed when vitamin supplementation was tested in clinical trials. "Prospective randomized clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation demonstrating a reduction in cardiovascular mortality are absolutely needed before any treatment recommendations can be made," Fonarow said. "The few clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation conducted to date have been quite disappointing."



"Vitamin D also appears to play a role in preventing heart failure, another study finds.In a study, published online in Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, University of Michigan pharmacologist Simpson showed that vitamin D could prevent heart failure from developing in rats".

Click healty medical Canadian Cancer Society Recommends Many Take Vitamin D

Independent Association of Low Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Levels With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality

What About Vitamin D and Pancreatic Cancer



In the report about Vitamin D and the heart they say "Vitamin D deficiency may be involved in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in humans".The scientists examined the blood levels of Vitamin D in thousands of men between the ages of 40 and 75. "We assessed prospectively whether (blood) plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) ,(Vitamin D) concentrations are associated with risk of coronary heart disease".



Very few foods in nature contain vitamin D. The flesh of fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) and fish liver oils are among the best sources. Blood serum concentration of 25(OH)D is the best indicator of Vitamin D status. It reflects vitamin D produced in the skin and that obtained from food and supplements and has a fairly long circulating half-life of 15 days. "A nested case-control study was conducted in 18 225 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study; the men were aged 40 to 75 years and were free of diagnosed cardiovascular disease at blood collection. Low levels of 25(OH)D are associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack)in a graded manner, even after controlling for factors (that is making adjustments to the calculations for other things that could cause coronary heart problems) known to be associated with coronary artery disease".

Low Vitamin D Could Raise Death Risk

Click healty medical Could Vitamin D Level Be Associated With Breast Cancer Prognosis

25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Men

MORE ABOUT VITAMIN D CONTROVERSY DOES VITAMIN D PROTECT AGAINST CANCER INFECTIONS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND WHAT SCIENTISTS SAY ABOUT VITAMIN D IN HEA

MORE ABOUT VITAMIN D CONTROVERSY DOES VITAMIN D PROTECT AGAINST CANCER INFECTIONS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND WHAT SCIENTISTS SAY ABOUT VITAMIN D IN HEALTH

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Should you take vitamin D supplements.? Vitamin D is important for our bones and some studies suggest that a lack of vitamin D can raise the risk of cancer. But some vitamin scientists are looking at some "intriguing, if preliminary epidemiological and lab studies" that point to a role for vitamin D in combating infections,multiple sclerosis,cancer and autoimmune diseases.



A molecular geneticist, John White at McGill University said that vitamin D switches on an arm of the immune system that kills bacteria (see links below). A kind of front line response to infection. Vitamin D also has anti inflammatory effects. An article about the possible expanded roles of vitamin D in health, quotes Robert Heaney, an endocrinologist at Creighton University, "the field has just exploded." Heaney who sat on the panel that made the vitamin D dose recommendations previously, is now saying they need to be raised. However, some scientists say there is still not enough evidence that vitamin D does all the things some advocates say.










Vitamin D is found in few foods. Oily fish provides vitamin D. Milk has vitamin D added to it. Sunlight causes the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin. People who live in less sunny climes get even less vitamin D. In general getting vitamin D just from food is a tricky proposition.




The Canadian Cancer Society has recommended that people in Canada take vitamin D. Specifically, adults living in Canada should consider taking vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 international units (IU) a day during the fall and winter. Adults at higher risk of having lower vitamin D levels should consider taking vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 IU/day all year round. This includes people who are older; with dark skin; who don't go outside often, and who wear clothing that covers most of their skin.

Click to read more about vitamin D

D is for Debate

SHOULD PEOPLE TAKE VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENT WHAT IS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CANCER, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CHRONIC DISEASE AND VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

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How much vitamin D do I need? Some studies suggest that a lack of vitamin D can raise the risk of cancer and heart attack. Vitamin D deficiency may be tied to diabetes and also multiple sclerosis. In 2007 the Canadian Cancer Society decided to recommend that the adult population of Canada begin taking vitamin D supplements. Greater awareness of the insidious consequences of vitamin D deficiency is needed. Some research suggests that the recommended adequate intakes for vitamin D are inadequate. Not all researchers agree with this and some suggest too much Vitamin D may weaken the immune system.

Click to read VITAMIN D AND PANCREATIC CANCER DOES VITAMIN D HELP PREVENT PANCREATIC CANCER AND A REPORT FROM HARVARD AND NORTHWESTERN



The Canadian Cancer Society decision to recommend vitamin D supplements was made because of the growing body of evidence about vitamin D documented effect on lowering cancer incidence. Because very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, sunlight supplies most of our vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in adults of all ages who have increased skin pigmentation or who always wear sun protection or limit their outdoor activities. Some reports say that vitamin D deficiency is sometimes misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia.







In 2007 a research study published in the online edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that a combination of vitamin D3 and calcium had a substantially marked effect on reducing cancer incidence. The four-year study out of Creighton University in Nebraska found that women who regularly took vitamin D3 had a 60 per cent reduction in cancer infections compared to a group taking placebos.



Doctors can do a blood test for Vitamin D called the 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D].This is a Vitamin D metabolite that can be measured in the blood to determine vitamin D status. Annual measurement of serum 25(OH)D is a reasonable approach to monitoring for vitamin D deficiency.





The Canadian Cancer Society recommendation for vitamin D:

Adults living in Canada should consider taking vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 international units (IU) a day during the fall and winter.

Adults at higher risk of having lower vitamin D levels should consider taking vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 IU/day all year round. This includes people who are older; with dark skin; who don't go outside often, and who wear clothing that covers most of their skin.

At this time, the Canadian Cancer Society does not have a recommendation for vitamin D supplementation for children.

Vitamin D Recommendation of Canadian Cancer Society