Good Health

Cancer Defeated: Vitamin D Pill For All

Economical Pill Would Cut Cancer Rates In Half!

December 28, 2005: The world is waking up to astonishing news today ......... the risk for most cancers can be cut by 30 to 50 percent with use of an economical vitamin D pill. Widespread use of vitamin D supplements would be expected to reduce colon cancer by 50%, and breast and ovarian cancer by 30%.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego caught the cancer industry by surprise with their stunning review of 63 published papers, revealing cancer rates can be dramatically reduced by raising blood levels of vitamin D beyond dietary levels with the use of vitamin pills. Large portions of human populations, especially in northern latitudes and people with darkly-pigmented skin, have very low circulating levels of vitamin D.

Surprisingly, the report did not emanate from the National Cancer Institute, which issued a report last week saying unproven nanotechnology and genetically-targeted drugs could “eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by 2015.” Nor was the report on the front pages of the New York Times that was extolling Gleevec, a disappointing anti-cancer drug that costs $2500 for a month of treatment. Instead, a 5-cent pill, heralded by independent researchers, appears to be the biggest cancer breakthrough in history.

The report, to be published in the February 2006 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, did not reveal anything new, but rather tabulated results from scientific reports conducted over the past 40 years that public health authorities had ignored.

Repeat of earlier study
Over 15 years ago the same doctors that wrote this recent report documented that the mortality rate for breast cancer in the US is 17-19 per 100,000 women in sunny southern states where vitamin D levels are high, and 33 per 100,000 in northern climates where vitamin D levels are low. [Preventive Medicine 19: 614-22, 1990] No action was taken then to advise the public to get more vitamin D. This time lead researcher, Professor Cedric F. Garland of the University of San Diego, is appealing to “leadership from the public health community to provide the best hope for action.” But will public health authorities break from their long-standing complacency in the face of undeniable scientific evidence?

Two years ago researcher William B. Grant PhD reported a shortage of vitamin D due to lack of sun exposure is a major cause of cancer, but public health authorities largely shunned his report as well. [Recent Results Cancer Research 164:371-7, 2003] In a paper published in 2002, Grant estimated the annual number of premature deaths from cancer due to low vitamin D/sunlight levels was 23,600. [Cancer 94:1867-75, 2002] Says Dr. Grant: “It's the great cancer cover-up. Panicked into avoiding sunlight by health experts, we are now dying in our thousands from diseases linked to deficiencies of vitamin D. But still the exaggerated warnings come,” says Dr. Grant.

Recently the Vitamin D Council has been calling for public health officials to take urgent action, given the growing body of data linking low levels of vitamin D with a wide list of health problems in addition to cancer, such as rickets, hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune disease, heart failure, bone deterioration, urinary incontinence, heart failure, thyroid problems, loss of muscle tone and weakened immunity.

The researchers conservatively recommend 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D, which by weight is only 25 micrograms, or 1/4th of one milligram, to prevent cancer. Public health authorities could easily fortify foods with this much vitamin D, but there is no impetus to do so. Most Americans, including health professionals, mistakenly avoid “high-dose” vitamin D because of unfounded concerns over toxicity.

Te denials and unfounded warnings are already being issued by health authorities who have spread misinformation about vitamin D for decades. “Such large doses of the vitamin must be treated with caution. More than 2000 IU a day can lead to the body absorbing too much calcium, and possible damage to the liver and kidneys,” says a report by CNN. But the National Academy of Sciences says 2000 IU is the perfectly safe limit. According to Reinhold Vieth PhD, of the University of Toronto, toxicity from vitamin D supplements doesn’t begin till 40,000 IU is consumed for many months. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition 69:842-56, 1999] It’s obvious the textbooks are wrong.

A representative of the American Dietetic Association said 200 IU is sufficient, but apparently didn’t read the research paper which showed there was no cancer preventive effect at this low intake level.

Americans typically ingest 200-250 units a day of the vitamin from foods, which prevents a frank deficiency but does not provide enough vitamin D to prevent bone loss or cancer. Dietary sources are limited -- a glass of milk, for instance, contains only 100 IU of the vitamin, and provides synthetic vitamin D2, not the vitamin natural-source D3 reported to prevent cancer in the study. Vitamin D2 is many times less effective than D3. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition 68: 854-58, 1998; Journal Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism 89:5387-91, 2004] Vitamin D intake from milk and/or common multivitamins does not prevent low vitamin D nutritional status of young women in winter. [European Journal Clinical Nutrition 55: 1091-91, 2001]

Sun exposure will produce vitamin D. An hour of total body exposure to midday summer sun at a southern latitude produces about 10,000 IU of vitamin D in the skin without causing toxicity. So fears of overdosing from supplements appear to be ill founded. Depending upon the season and latitude, 30 minutes of sunning at midday could produce a significant amount of vitamin D, though blacks would need 5 times more sun exposure to produce the same amount as Caucasians. However, because of concerns over skin cancer from exposure to solar UV rays, the most practical option is vitamin D pills.

The vitamin D Council says most multivitamins provide only 400 IU, which is only about 10% of the body’s daily need.

Researchers say the "newly recognized association with risk of several types of cancer is receiving considerable attention. A deficiency of vitamin D may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer annually.”

Professor Garland says: "A preponderance of evidence from the best observational studies... has led to the conclusion that public health action is needed. Primary prevention of these cancers has been largely neglected, but we now have proof that the incidence of colon, breast and ovarian cancer can be reduced dramatically by increasing the public's intake of vitamin D. The easiest and most reliable way of getting the appropriate amount is from food and a daily supplement.”

IU = international unit - 1 microgram by weight = 40 IU
One microgram vitamin D3 per day (cholecalciferol) increases circulating vitamin D levels by about 1 nmol/L (0.4 ng/mL) Synthetic vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is what is used to fortify milk.

200 IU (5 micrograms/day) – at least 20% of women will still have low circulating levels of vitamin D at this level of intake. [European Journal Clinical Nutrition 55: 1091-97, 2001]

800-1000 IU (20-25 micrograms) amount required for most adults to reach 75 nanomolar/liter. [Osteoporosis International 16: 713-16, 2005] Intake of less than 800 IU vitamin D per day has never been shown to prevent hip fractures. [Annals Medicine 37:278-85, 2005]

1000 IU (30-45 nanograms/liter blood concentration) Minimum blood concentration required to prevent cancer

2000 IU (50 micrograms) Safe upper limit established by National Academy of Sciences

2200 IU (55 micrograms per day) required for optimal calcium absorption to prevent bone loss (60 nanomolar/liter blood concentration). [Journal Steroid Biochemistry Molecular Biology 97: 13-19, 2005]

4000 IU Safe daily intake level proven in recent study. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition 73:288-94, 2001] This dosage is probably the minimum that blacks and people living in northern climates should consume daily in winter months. Eventually 4000 IU is expected to be recommended universally for all adults.

Therapeutic use of vitamin D in active cases of cancer may employ even greater amounts of vitamin D. 2000 IU of vitamin D3 has been shown to reduce or stabilize PSA in some prostate cancer patients. [Nutrition Cancer 51:32-6, 2005]

Most vitamin D pills provide 400 IU, a few brands offer 1000-2000 IU. A new 5000 IU vitamin D3 pill is now available at www.LifeSpanNutrition.com.