Vitamin D Reduces Risk of Melanoma and Other Skin Cancer: Study
The immune-boosting properties of the sun vitamin led to a surge in interest during the pandemic. New research has shown that vitamin D supplementation is associated with a significant decrease in the risk of developing cancer. melanoma risk.
Researchers also found that those who took vitamin D supplements regularly had a lower risk of developing other types of skin diseases. cancer.
Regularly Take Vitamin D Reduced Melanoma Risk
The new study The study was done under the North Savo Skin Cancer Programme of Finland. It included 498 adult patients who were estimated to have an increase in their risk. skin cancer risk for:
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Melanoma
Serum calcidiol levels, a measure of vitamin D in the blood, were analyzed in about half of the patients and were found to correspond to the patients’ self-reported intake of vitamin D supplements.
A key finding was that among regular vitamin D users, there were lower percentages of participants with a history of past or present melanoma—only 18 percent compared to 32 percent in those who didn’t take vitamin D supplements.
Researchers found that only 62 percent of regular supplement users have a history of other forms of skin cancer. This compares to almost 75 percent of non-users.
“Regular use of vitamin D associates with fewer melanoma cases, when compared to non-use, but the causality between them is obscure,” The study authors concluded.
The Epoch Times was told by Dr. Adam Starr (an oncologist at Staten Island University Hospital), that vitamin D may have anti-melanoma properties.
“[Reasons could include] modulation of the immune system and [vitamin D’s] antioxidant effects,” He explained. “Additionally, the relationship between vitamin D metabolism and sunlight exposure, plus melanoma and sunlight exposure may have some interplay.”
Research shows vitamin D It also lowers inflammation linked to increased cancer risk and has antitumor qualities.
Vitamin D helps our bodies absorb calcium and phosphorus. This is crucial for maintaining healthy bones. Vitamin D receptors are found in many organs and tissues, which suggests that this nutrient is important for more than just bone health.
Sun Exposure is Essential for Vitamin D but also poses a risk to your health.
Vitamin D is both a vitamin that can be found in food as well as a hormone produced by our bodies when exposed to sunlight.
Natural ultraviolet light, which is not only a great way to get vitamin D from the sun but also a good way to do it, is also advisable. risk factors For melanomas or non-melanoma skin cancer.
Melanoma risk is also increased by sunburns and sun exposure during childhood and adolescence, particularly for those with fair skin and red hair. Because melanoma has a low rate of response to chemotherapy, surgical removal is the only option.
However, only 35 percent of U.S. adults have this trait. vitamin D deficientSunscreen use, which is used by many to prevent skin carcinomas, is the cause of the American Osteopathic Association’s problem.
“People are spending less time outside and, when they do go out, they’re typically wearing sunscreen, which essentially nullifies the body’s ability to produce vitamin D,” Kim Pfotenhauer (a Touro University assistant professor of osteopathic family medicine and board-certified osteopathic physician) said, said in a statement.
Moderation is key. Spend five to thirty minutes in the mid-day sun once a week depending on your geographical location and skin color (lighter skin makes more Vitamin D than darker skin). Pfotenhauer said it’s important to forget the sunscreen during these sessions because SPF 15 or higher can decrease vitamin D production by up to 99 percent.
“You don’t need to go sunbathing at the beach to get the benefits,” emphasized Pfotenhauer. “A simple walk with arms and legs exposed is enough for most people.”
Vitamin D Supplementation Upper limit for Healthy People
When taking vitamin D supplements, there’s an optimal daily dose, and taking more than that could adversely affect our health.
Starr cautioned that vitamin D requirements depend on a person’s baseline vitamin D level and whether they have a malabsorption condition.
“Therefore, the amount one should take if they want to supplement should be discussed with their physician,” He stated.
The following recommendations are for healthy adults who have normal absorption. National Institutes of Health recommends Adults aged 19 and over can consume a maximum of 4000 international units (IU) daily.
The amount of supplementation that’s too much is still unclear, but there’s evidence that taking 60,000 IU For several months, it could be toxic to take one pill per day.
A condition known as vitamin D hypersensitivity is the main danger of taking too much vitamin. hypercalcemia Calcium deficiency can lead to neurological symptoms.
“[Symptoms of hypercalcemia include] confusion, fatigue, coma, as well as bone pain, weakness, stomach pain, nausea, constipation, increased urination, kidney problems, among many others,” Starr.
Vitamin D may help protect you from other types of cancer
Regarding the Finnish study, Starr said it’s interesting, but still insufficient evidence to recommend taking vitamin D to prevent melanoma because that study had too many confounding factors.
“For example, patients who take vitamin D might also be more likely to wear sunscreen, and that might be what actually accounts for the difference,” He stated. “The authors did a statistical analysis to try to eliminate these biases, but the history of these kinds of studies [shows] that a clinical trial, or a forward-looking prospective study, is really needed to definitively say that vitamin D might lower the risk of melanoma.”
However, this is just one study that has found an association between vitamin-D levels and increased cancer risk.
Research published in 2018 A study that examined data from around 13,000 people revealed that insufficient vitamin D could lead to an increase of up to 31 percent in our risk of developing colorectal carcinoma.
Another study found Vitamin D reduced the growth, invasiveness, metastasis, and proliferation of prostate cancer cells.
Although not all research has shown a preventive benefit, scientists have still found a potentially lifesaving effect. A recent meta-analysis A series of controlled, randomised trials showed that vitamin D supplementation had a significant impact on total cancer mortality. However, it did not reduce total cancer incidence.
Harvard Health recommends Healthy-weight people who are at high risk of developing cancer due to their lifestyle or family history of it should take daily vitamin D supplements beginning at age 50.
George Citroner covers health and medicine. Topics include cancer, infectious disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2020, he received the Media Orthopaedic Reporting Excellence Award (MORE) for a story about osteoporosis risks in men.
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