Just how powerful and important is vitamin D? It is important enough for men to not overlook. Today’s research excerpt is for those who have a prostate or know someone who does.
Vitamin D supplements may slow or prevent low-grade prostate cancer from progressing, a small new study suggests.
“Vitamin D decreases inflammation in tissues, and inflammation is a driver of cancer,” explained Bruce Hollis, the study’s lead researcher and a professor of pediatrics, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
For the study, researchers randomly assigned 37 men who elected to have their prostate removed to receive either 4,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D or an inactive placebo daily for 60 days before their operation.
When the prostate gland was examined after their surgery, researchers found that many who received vitamin D had improvements in their prostate tumors, while the tumors in the placebo group remained the same or got worse.
“In greater than 60 percent of those taking it, vitamin D actually made the cancer better,” said Hollis.
Hollis reported that in some cases the tumor shrank and in others the cancer went away. However, the study was small, and results from a larger trial aren’t expected for several years, he added.
Doctors often recommend a “watch and wait” period for men with low-grade, or less aggressive, prostate tumors. But many patients and their families aren’t comfortable waiting and opt to have surgery before it’s deemed medically necessary. These findings suggest that taking vitamin D might help reduce the need for such radical treatment.
Source: Vitamin D Supplements Might Slow Prostate Cancer.” By Steven Reinberg. http://www.webmd.com