High level of vitamin D may lower cancer risk
New Delhi, Mar 09 (ANI): High levels of vitamin D may be linked to a lower risk of developing cancer, including liver cancer, revealed a new study. The study, conducted by a team of international researchers in Japan, stated that the findings support the theory that vitamin D might help protect against some cancers. So an international Japan-based research team set out to assess whether vitamin D was associated with the risk of total and site-specific cancer. They analysed data from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective (JPHC) Study, involving 33,736 male and female participants aged between 40 to 69 years. At the start of the study, participants provided detailed information on their medical history, diet, lifestyle, and blood samples were taken to measure vitamin D levels. Vitamin D levels varied depending on the time of year the sample was taken, tend to be higher during the summer and autumn months than in the winter or spring. After accounting for this seasonal variation, samples were split into four groups, ranging from the lowest to highest levels of vitamin D. Participants were then monitored for an average of 16 years, during which time 3,301 new cases of cancer were recorded. After adjusting for several known cancer risk factors, such as age, weight (BMI), physical activity levels, smoking, alcohol intake and dietary factors, the researchers found that a higher level of vitamin D was associated with a lower (around 20 percent) relative risk of overall cancer in both men and women. The findings from the study are published in The BMJ.
