Editorial: Vitamin D can help reduce risk of cancer

[Editor-in-Chief]

Vitamin D can help reduce risk of cancer


Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 10:00

Editorial - Some time ago our all powerful and never-to-be-questioned health unit put out a series of posters cautioning us to stay out of tanning salons.

After reading several versions of the posters the penny dropped - the posters did not say "Use Caution," they seemed to make an effort to trump Health Canada and seemed to say "Don't do it or you will die!"

I spoke out at that time because of the available science and facts. Guess what, more information has come into the public venue.

Proper levels of vitamin D have been connected by scientific studies to a 60 per cent lower incidence of cancer than the reduced risk associated with stopping smoking.

Let's do both. The best source of vitamin D is still the sun. Other foods like milk have the vitamin, but we would have to drink three litres a day, 52 weeks a year - totally unrealistic.

A professor of medicine at Creighton University in Nebraska has been quoted as saying "there is no useful sun in the Northern latitudes from October to March." The item of note is that we are much further north than Nebraska.

Vitamin D deficiency is showing up as a factor in so many diseases, its need will have to be re-evaluated.

Another thing is the use of sun blockers removes any useful sunlight during our short summer. Even without the blockers by mid-winter we have used up stored vitamin D.

How much is enough? That's open to debate, but a really good guide would be "Don't scorch!"

Near the equator there is a measure of how much sun is available and how much vitamin D exists. Without the formula, the best expression of who gets what are people who are lifeguards and farmers - the only ones who get enough vitamin D to carry them throughout the year. The rest of us get about one-quarter to one-third of the amount we need.

Many years ago, Linus Pauling, a famous advocate of vitamin C touted its benefits to the point of a near "cure all." Basically, he was right but he was off by one letter.

Maybe we should check out a responsible tanning salon.

Robert Cochrane


Source