Vitamin D and prevention of breast cancer: pooled analysis.

peggy_j

There has been some discussion here on how much Vit D is good (vs. too much).  

 

Vitamin D and prevention of breast cancer: pooled analysis.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17368188 

 

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Inadequate photosynthesis or oral intake of Vitamin D are associated with high incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer in ecological and observational studies, but the dose-response relationship in individuals has not been adequately studied.

METHODS:
A literature search for all studies that reported risk by of breast cancer by quantiles of 25(OH)D identified two studies with 1760 individuals. Data were pooled to assess the dose-response association between serum 25(OH)D and risk of breast cancer.
RESULTS:
The medians of the pooled quintiles of serum 25(OH)D were 6, 18, 29, 37 and 48 ng/ml. Pooled odds ratios for breast cancer from lowest to highest quintile, were 1.00, 0.90, 0.70, 0.70 and 0.50 (p trend<0.001). According to the pooled analysis, individuals with serum 25(OH)D of approximately 52 ng/ml had 50% lower risk of breast cancer than those with serum <13 ng/ml. This serum level corresponds to intake of 4000 IU/day. This exceeds the National Academy of Sciences upper limit of 2000 IU/day. A 25(OH)D level of 52 ng/ml could be maintained by intake of 2000 IU/day and, when appropriate, about 12 min/day in the sun, equivalent to oral intake of 3000 IU of Vitamin D(3).
CONCLUSIONS:
Intake of 2000 IU/day of Vitamin D(3), and, when possible, very moderate exposure to sunlight, could raise serum 25(OH)D to 52 ng/ml, a level associated with reduction by 50% in incidence of breast cancer, according to observational studies.
PMID: 17368188 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] 

 

 

 

 

PJ note: my bone endocrinologist dis-recommends taking mega-doses since Vit D does not pass through the system. He said there is no known toxicity at 4000 IU/day. (that's the total dosage from food, supplements and the sun) 

Rosetapper

Thank you for posting this!  I had wanted to post on an earlier thread about Vitamin D, but it was very long...and I thought my post would get lost among all the others.

I wanted to remind everyone that there are TWO Vitamin A receptors on every cell for every ONE Vitamin D receptor.  This is oftentimes not discussed.  Therefore, please do NOT take just Vitamin D!  If you take Vitamin D, you should also take Vitamin A.  Also, if you have problems with absorbing Vitamin D (and possibly A), as many celiacs do, a good brand to take is Country Life Natural Vitamin D, because it contains the correct the ratio of Vitamin A and Vitamin D as well as medium-chain triglycerides that help with absorption.  I have celiac and was unable to absorb Vitamin D for my entire life (I was even born with Rickets), but at a celiac conference in Seattle earlier this year, a speaker mentioned how it's important to take the correct ratio of Vitamins A and D and to take Country Life Natural Vitamin D if you've experienced problems absorbing Vitamin D.  This was the most important information on nutrition that I've received in many years....and now my Vitamin D level is the highest it's ever been.  It's practically a miracle!  Prior to receiving (and taking) this advice, I could never raise my Vitamin D level above 22--even after taking 50,000 IUs daily for six months!  Now it's at 53!

Anyway, I hope others read this and understand the importance of how vitamins work together.

peggy_j

Interesting. I didn't know about the Vit A and Vit D connection. Do you need to take Vit A at the same time as the Vit D supplement? For me, it's easy to get Vit A in food (spinach, carrot, sweet potatoes) so I never thought I needed to take extra A. Or maybe...I should wait and take my Vit D supplement with a meal high in Vit A?

CelineFlower

i have taken vit d.. for years... and at almost double the limit (up to 8000 iud) for infections etc

when i told my team, they were concerned... the onco pharmacist even printed out 20 pages of info for me to read...

i found it very interesting that they would do this..so much so that i am printing out some reports that show the alternative medical side..

should be fun

peggy_j

BTW if anyone is investigating possible issues due to mega-doses of Vit D, there was a thread in the Hormonal forum a few weeks ago where a member asked about some SEs she thought might be related to tamox, and when she lowered her Vit D intake below 5000 IU they went away.