Vit D and breast cancer

May 18, 2008

We know Vitamin D is good for MSers and for Seasonal Affective Disorder but now it is a plus to avoid breast cancer? See attached! Sharonhttp://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MSersHEALTH/This email is a natural hand made product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VITAMIN_D_BREAST_CANCER?SITE=AZMES & SECTION=NATIONAL & TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

May 16, 11:26 AM EDT

Vitamin D may help curb breast cancer, study finds

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

AP Medical Writer

Your Questions Answered

Ask AP: Global warming and the Earth's rotation

Breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin

D were much more likely to die of the disease or have it spread than

patients getting enough of the nutrient, a study found - adding to

evidence the "sunshine vitamin" has anti-cancer benefits. The results

are sure to renew arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a

good thing. The skin makes vitamin D from

ultraviolet light. Too much sunlight can raise the risk of skin cancer,

but small amounts - 15 minutes or so a few times a week without

sunscreen - may be beneficial, many doctors believe. While

the vitamin is found in certain foods and supplements, most don't

contain the best form, D-3, and have only a modest effect on blood

levels of the nutrient. That's what matters, the Canadian study found. Only

24 percent of women in the study had sufficient blood levels of D at

the time they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who were

deficient were nearly twice as likely to have their cancer recur or

spread over the next 10 years, and 73 percent more likely to die of the

disease. "These are pretty big differences,"

said study leader Dr. Pamela Goodwin of Mount Sinai Hospital in

Toronto. "It's the first time that vitamin D has been linked to breast

cancer progression." But people shouldn't

start downing supplements, she warned. Experts don't agree on how much

vitamin D people need or the best way to get it, and too much can be

harmful. They also don't know whether getting more vitamin D can help

when someone already has cancer. "We have no

idea whether correcting a vitamin D deficiency will in any way alter

these outcomes," said Dr. Gralow, a cancer specialist at the

University of Washington in Seattle. The

study was released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical

Oncology and will be presented at the group's annual meeting later this

month. Lots of earlier research suggests

vitamin D may help prevent prostate, breast and especially colon

cancer. In lab and animal tests, vitamin D stifles abnormal cell

growth, curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors and has many

other anti-cancer effects. Other evidence:

People who live in northern regions of the world have higher cancer

rates than those living closer to the equator, possibly because of less

sunshine and vitamin D. The Canadian

researchers wanted to see whether it made a difference in survival.

They took blood from 512 women at three University of Toronto hospitals

between 1989 and 1995, when the women were first diagnosed with

early-stage breast cancer. A decade later, 83

percent of those who had had adequate vitamin D blood levels were alive

without extensive spread of their cancer, versus 79 percent of those

whose vitamin D levels were insufficient and 69 percent of those who

were deficient, as defined by widely used medical standards for

measuring intake. One red flag: The few women with the very highest levels of vitamin D seemed to have worse survival. Though

the study was too small and those results were not conclusive, "there

may be an optimal level of vitamin D in women with breast cancer and it

may be possible to take too much," Goodwin said. The

federal government says up to 2,000 international units of vitamin D a

day seems OK. Taking 800 units per day will, on average, raise blood

levels to the middle of the range that seems best for bone and general

health, Goodwin said. Vitamin D is in salmon

and other oily fish, and milk is routinely fortified with it, but

dietary sources account for little of the amount of D circulating in

the blood, experts say. "It's very hard to

make a recommendation" because how much difference a supplement makes

depends on someone's baseline level, which also can be affected by

sunlight, skin type and time of year, she explained. Doctors

do suggest breast cancer patients get their vitamin D levels checked to

see whether they are deficient. The simple blood test is available in

many hospitals and labs for about $25, Goodwin said. Dr.

son, a s Hopkins University cancer specialist who is

president of the oncology society, said those tests are growing in

popularity, even in ordinary medical care. "Rightly or wrongly, I'm increasingly seeing physicians who are measuring this," she said. The

Canadian study was paid for by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in

New York, established by cosmetics magnate Lauder. "It's

a very provocative paper. It's confirmatory of a tremendous amount of

evidence that vitamin D is an important component of health," said Dr.

Larry Norton, chief of breast cancer programs at Memorial

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a medical adviser to the

foundation. Breast cancer is the most common

cancer in women. About 184,450 cases and 40,930 deaths from the disease

are expected in the United States this year. --- On the Net: Government vitamin information: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp Cancer conference: http://www.asco.org ©

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May 18, 2008

You take it with Calcium to unlock the calcium so your body can use it

Vit D and breast cancer

We know Vitamin D is good for MSers and for Seasonal Affective Disorder but now it is a plus to avoid breast cancer? See attached!

Sharonhttp://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MSersHEALTH/This email is a natural hand made product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VITAMIN_D_BREAST_CANCER?SITE=AZMES & SECTION=NATIONAL & TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

May 16, 11:26 AM EDT

Vitamin D may help curb breast cancer, study finds

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP Medical Writer

Your Questions Answered

Ask AP: Global warming and the Earth's rotation

Breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin D were much more likely to die of the disease or have it spread than patients getting enough of the nutrient, a study found - adding to evidence the "sunshine vitamin" has anti-cancer benefits. The results are sure to renew arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a good thing.

The skin makes vitamin D from ultraviolet light. Too much sunlight can raise the risk of skin cancer, but small amounts - 15 minutes or so a few times a week without sunscreen - may be beneficial, many doctors believe.

While the vitamin is found in certain foods and supplements, most don't contain the best form, D-3, and have only a modest effect on blood levels of the nutrient. That's what matters, the Canadian study found.

Only 24 percent of women in the study had sufficient blood levels of D at the time they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who were deficient were nearly twice as likely to have their cancer recur or spread over the next 10 years, and 73 percent more likely to die of the disease.

"These are pretty big differences," said study leader Dr. Pamela Goodwin of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. "It's the first time that vitamin D has been linked to breast cancer progression."

But people shouldn't start downing supplements, she warned. Experts don't agree on how much vitamin D people need or the best way to get it, and too much can be harmful. They also don't know whether getting more vitamin D can help when someone already has cancer.

"We have no idea whether correcting a vitamin D deficiency will in any way alter these outcomes," said Dr. Gralow, a cancer specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The study was released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be presented at the group's annual meeting later this month.

Lots of earlier research suggests vitamin D may help prevent prostate, breast and especially colon cancer. In lab and animal tests, vitamin D stifles abnormal cell growth, curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors and has many other anti-cancer effects.

Other evidence: People who live in northern regions of the world have higher cancer rates than those living closer to the equator, possibly because of less sunshine and vitamin D.

The Canadian researchers wanted to see whether it made a difference in survival. They took blood from 512 women at three University of Toronto hospitals between 1989 and 1995, when the women were first diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.

A decade later, 83 percent of those who had had adequate vitamin D blood levels were alive without extensive spread of their cancer, versus 79 percent of those whose vitamin D levels were insufficient and 69 percent of those who were deficient, as defined by widely used medical standards for measuring intake.

One red flag: The few women with the very highest levels of vitamin D seemed to have worse survival.

Though the study was too small and those results were not conclusive, "there may be an optimal level of vitamin D in women with breast cancer and it may be possible to take too much," Goodwin said.

The federal government says up to 2,000 international units of vitamin D a day seems OK. Taking 800 units per day will, on average, raise blood levels to the middle of the range that seems best for bone and general health, Goodwin said.

Vitamin D is in salmon and other oily fish, and milk is routinely fortified with it, but dietary sources account for little of the amount of D circulating in the blood, experts say.

"It's very hard to make a recommendation" because how much difference a supplement makes depends on someone's baseline level, which also can be affected by sunlight, skin type and time of year, she explained.

Doctors do suggest breast cancer patients get their vitamin D levels checked to see whether they are deficient. The simple blood test is available in many hospitals and labs for about $25, Goodwin said.

Dr. son, a s Hopkins University cancer specialist who is president of the oncology society, said those tests are growing in popularity, even in ordinary medical care.

"Rightly or wrongly, I'm increasingly seeing physicians who are measuring this," she said.

The Canadian study was paid for by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York, established by cosmetics magnate Lauder.

"It's a very provocative paper. It's confirmatory of a tremendous amount of evidence that vitamin D is an important component of health," said Dr. Larry Norton, chief of breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a medical adviser to the foundation.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. About 184,450 cases and 40,930 deaths from the disease are expected in the United States this year.

---

On the Net:

Government vitamin information:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

Cancer conference: http://www.asco.org

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May 18, 2008