New study: Vitamin D big factor in preventing cancer

A new study about to be released shows that women who take vitamin D regularly had a 60% lower chance of getting cancer.

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin. It is synthesized in the body during exposure to sunlight. It is also found in some foods, and is often included in multivitamin supplements. The article linked here makes reference to skin cancer rates which have been rising since 1971. The new research suggests that this may be due in part to advice from doctors who routinely tell people to avoid exposure to the sun. The article points out that while 1500 people a year die from skin cancer, 1500 people die of other cancers every day. It may be that more sun exposure might actually prevent more cancers than it causes. While most multivitamin tablets contain about 400 IU of vitamin D, an hour exposure to the sun can produce as much as 10,000 IU of vitamin D. The author suggested that food companies may want to start adding vitamin D to foods, just as is presently done with milk. It may cost up to $1 billion to achieve sufficient levels of D in the population, but preventing cancers could save $16 to $25 billion in medical costs. N.B. the author of the article linked here is a spokesman for various supplement companies.