Why it’s important to get enough vitamin D
ACCORDING to a study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, spending enough time in the sun could protect against pancreatic cancer.
Researchers found that rates of the cancer were highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight, due to a lack of vitamin D. The study is the first to associate a vitamin D deficiency with pancreatic cancer.
“If you’re living at a high latitude or in a place with a lot of heavy cloud cover, you can’t make vitamin D most of the year, which results in a higher-than-normal risk of getting pancreatic cancer,” said Cedric F. Garland, an adjunct professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health and member of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, who authored the study.
Garland and his colleagues gathered data from 107 countries. The countries with the least amount of sunlight, meaning heavy clouds and high latitudes, also record the highest rates of the cancer. Previous research performed by Garland and his team showed that adequate levels of the vitamin D metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin was linked to a lower risk of breast and colorectal cancer.
“People who live in sunny countries near the equator have only one-sixth of the age-adjusted incidence rate of pancreatic cancer as those who live far from it,” Garland explained, stressing that the best form of vitamin D is in fact from sunlight. “The importance of sunlight deficiency strongly suggests—but does not prove—that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to risk of pancreatic cancer.”
Vitamin D can be found in certain foods, such as oily fish like tuna and salmon, cheese, and egg yolk. Experts agree that human bodies require a natural supply of the nutrient, which is produced when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet B radiation.
Researchers also accounted for other risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer development based on each country studied, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, and obesity.
“While these factors also contribute to risk, the strong inverse association with cloud-cover adjusted sunlight persisted even after they were accounted for,” Garland said.
The pancreas, a crucial part of the digestive system, is located high in the abdomen and produces digestive enzymes to help break down and absorb food. It also secretes hormones such as insulin, which helps keep blood sugar levels stable.
According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer around the world, and the seventh most common cancer-related cause of death. Around 55 percent of the diagnoses occur in developed countries. In 2012, the Czech Republic had the highest rate of the cancer, followed by Slovakia and Armenia. By continent, North America and Europe account for highest incidence rate of pancreatic cancer, while Africa and Asia have the lowest.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 48,960 people in the US will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and 40,560 of those people will die of it.
It is also the 11th most common cancer in the UK, with around 8,800 people diagnosed each year.
Risk factors often include age—it mainly affects people who are between 50-80 years old—and smoking habits. A history of other health conditions (such as diabetes, stomach ulcers or chronic pancreatitis) can also increase risk of development.
(With reports from Medical Daily, Daily Mail)
(LA Weekend May 2-5, 2015 Sec. A pg.6)
