Breast Cancer, Integrative Medicine and Vitamin D Part 2 (of 3)

In the first part of this article, I discussed the importance of vitamin D in treating cancer, including breast. Let's look at some of the articles that show the value of vitamin D.

Lappe Perspective study of vitamin D and cancer prevention

In this study, candidate Joan Lappe, RN and his colleagues looked at more than 400 postmenopausal women for four years. In one group, 1100 IU of vitamin D and 1000 mg of calcium were given daily to women. The control group did not receive this. The results of the study were that women who took vitamin D and calcium over the next four years reduced the level of cancer by an amazing 60%. In fact, the authors examined in more detail and found that for every 10 ng / ml increase in the level of women in vitamin D, the relative risk of cancer decreased by 35%. These data were not limited to breast cancer, but included all types of cancer.

Goodwin research

In this study, originally presented in 2008, Pamela Goodwin, MD and collections, reviewed more than 500 women retrospectively for 11 years. What she and her colleagues discovered was that those women who experienced vitamin D deficiency during a breast cancer diagnosis were 73% more likely to die from breast cancer than those who had enough vitamin D at the time of staging diagnosis. In addition, those with a vitamin D deficiency during breast cancer diagnosis were almost twice as high, relapsed or spread during these years.

My wife and I listened with pleasure to the interview of one of the authors of this article. Much to the shock and distress, the author pointed out that since the study was retrospective, they would never recommend that a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer take more than the minimum daily requirement (RDA) of vitamin D. They specifically said that they They will never recommend supplemental vitamin D until more randomized, placebo-controlled prospective studies have been performed. It will take another 5-10 years.

When I presented this information to my staff, mostly women, they were too shocked that, in light of the data that the researcher did not recommend to new patients diagnosed with breast cancer, to take additional vitamin D. A diagnosed patient with breast cancer, who came to me to support integrative medicine for her diagnosis of breast cancer, has a vitamin D level measured by her oncologist. What is wrong with this picture?

In the third part of this article, we will look at another important study on vitamin D and cancer.