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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could a simple vitamin be the answer to cancer prevention?
Researchers who compared a large group of women who took daily doses of vitamin D with women who didnt take the supplement believe the answer may be yes.
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Their study found women age 55 and older taking 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day -- well above the currently recommended daily amount of 400 IUs -- had a whopping 60-percent reduction in cancer risk. The study, which was conducted over a four-year period, showed even better results when only the final years worth of data were included.
Speculating some women entered the study with undiagnosed cancers, researchers analyzed cancer rates for just the last three years, discovering a 77-percent reduced risk among women taking vitamin D. The reduction in risk was seen across all major types of cancer, including cancers of the breast, colon, and lung.
The research was originally designed to look at the effects of calcium supplements on bone health in postmenopausal women, comparing women taking calcium alone, calcium plus vitamin D, or a placebo. Cancer risk was only a secondary measure, but is now taking center stage due to the stunning results.
The findings are very exciting, study author Joan Lappe, Ph.D., R.N., from Creighton University School of Medicine, was quoted as saying. 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. Vitamin D is a critical tool in fighting cancer as well as many other diseases.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published online June 7, 2007
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