Dr. Mercola September 03 2000 2,868 views
Scientists are getting closer to developing a chemically-modified form of vitamin D that may one day be used to prevent cancer.
Researchers administered one of 4 different types of chemically modified vitamin D directly to the skin of mice that had been given a skin cancer-promoting agent.
After 20 weeks of treatment, the mice that got either of the 4 the modified vitamin D had a reduced occurrence of skin cancer tumors of up to 28% compared to a control group of mice.
"These are the first animal trials that show efficacy and safety of our particular version of (vitamin D)," said Dr. Gary H. Posner of the Johns Hopkins University in an interview with Reuters Health.
Previous hopes for vitamin D being used as a cancer-preventive agent had been put on hold because, at the levels needed for cancer protection, it is known to deplete the body of calcium, causing osteoporosis.
"When we administered our synthetic versions of (vitamin D) at concentrations that were twenty times higher than the natural vitamin D, there was no evidence of increased calcium in the mice," said Dr. Posner.
American Chemical Society meeting August, 2000 Washington, DC.
Although I am always concerned when I see researchers "chemically modifying" substances like vitamin D, there may be some promise is this line of research. However, it will be many years before this will be known. If you have not read the recent newsletter article on vitamin D I would encourage you to do so. Some researchers do not even believe it should be classified as a vitamin. It is more of a steroid hormone precursor that your body is able to produce when exposed to adequate sunshine.
Clearly you do not want excessive sun exposure as that is unhealthy, but I strongly believe that we all need about one hour of sun exposure per day and if you are unable to receive that your health is likely to decline significantly. Cancer and depression are the central issues, but decreased bone density and secondary osteoporosis is also another complication. It is interesting that a nutrient obtained from sunlight is being shown to PREVENT skin cancer, when it is commonly believed that sunlight CAUSES skin cancer.
Related Articles:
Vitamin D Urged for Breastfed, Dark-Skinned Infants Vitamin D and Sunlight Sunlight, Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis
Vitamin D Urged for Breastfed, Dark-Skinned Infants
Vitamin D and Sunlight
Sunlight, Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis