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Last Updated: Apr 18, 2008 - 9:37:36 AM |
FRIDAY April 18, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) – Women with low levels of vitamin D in the blood were more likely to develop breast cancer, a new study showed; adding to a growing body of evidence that taking high doses of the vitamin D may help women fight against the deadly disease.
Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) found postmenopausal women who had very low levels of 25(OH)D in their blood were more likely to have breast cancer.
Sascha Abbas and colleagues found the association when they compared the blood levels of 25(OH)D in 1,394 breast cancer patients with those in 1,394 healthy people without the disease.
The researchers cautioned though that it remained unknown whether vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for increased risk of breast cancer or the low levels of vitamin D in the breast cancer patients were simply caused by chemotherapy or lack of sufficient exposure to sunlight because of prolonged hospital stays.
However, the researchers found that women who carried one variant of the vitamin D receptor gene known as the Taql polymorphism were at slightly increased risk of breast tumors that carry receptor for the female sex hormone estrogen on their surface.
They explained that vitamin D can exert its cancer-preventing effect by counteracting the growth-promoting effect of estrogens.
The primary role of vitamin D is in regulation of the calcium metabolism in the body. But high levels of vitamin D in the blood have previously been linked with reduced risk of breast cancer. Some experts even said that intake of more than 1,000 IUs of the vitamin per day may reduce 70% of breast cancer cases.
Dietary sources for vitamin D are limited. The common dietary sources include cod liver oil, eggs and dairy products. The vitamin can also be obtained from supplements. But the best source is the sunlight. Fifteen-minute exposure of the face and hands to sunlight is believed to be sufficient.
For more information on vitamin D and breast cancer, read the following:
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