Vitamin D during teens may cut breast cancer risk
By Megan RauscherLast Updated: 2006-04-04 11:22:53 -0400
(Reuters
Health) WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - Data from a
population-based study
support the theory that vitamin D may lower breast cancer
risk, and
suggest that exposure to vitamin D relatively early in life
may be
particularly important.
Dr. Julia A. Knight from Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
reported her
team's findings here Tuesday at the annual meeting of
the American
Association for Cancer Research.
"We found evidence that factors related to vitamin D
exposure --
including sun exposure and dietary sources (cod liver oil,
fortified
milk, some types of fish) -- are associated with a reduced
risk of
breast cancer. In particular, we see this for exposures
occurring during
adolescence," Knight told Reuters Health.
The findings are based on a study comparing 576 women, 20 to
59 years
of age, diagnosed with breast cancer and 1135 healthy
age-matched
"control" women.
There was evidence for a significantly reduced risk of
breast cancer
with sun exposure factors, such as working in an outdoor job
and the
number of outdoor activities at ages 10 to 19 and at ages 20
to 29.
Consumption of cod liver oil for 10 years or more was also
associated
with a lower risk of breast cancer, as was consumption of
more than
nine glasses of milk per week compared with fewer than five
glasses at
ages 20 to 29.
Summing up, Knight said: "Evidence is growing that
vitamin D might help
reduce the risk of breast cancer, and what we see is
consistent with the
idea that what occurs during breast development in
adolescence may
influence future breast cancer risk."
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