Should you remove your breasts to prevent breast cancer? Would sunlight/vitamin D and exercise be a better choice?

I just read—with horror—a discussion among cancer “experts” about one of the worst atrocities being committed by medicine: the removal of a woman’s breasts as a procedure to prevent breast cancer in women who are genetically susceptible to that disease. One of them stated that the procedure was “95% effective.” [1]

In other words, a woman who has no cancer, but who had close relatives who had cancer, might have both breasts removed as a prophylactic measure.

This idea makes me ill. Genetics do not doom a woman to breast cancer; rather, they determine whether the woman can handle a lifestyle that leads her to cancer. In other words, “good genes” help one to resist the toxic lifestyle they have chosen to live. “Bad genes” cannot resist the damage done by that lifestyle, and cancer results. If what I just said is true, then the best option is to remove the toxic lifestyle. Sedentary living, for instance, is toxic to the female breast. That can be overcome. For example, women who exercise four hours per week reduce risk by 37%; those who exercise and also maintain the leanest bodies reduce risk by an impressive 72%![2]

And what about sunlight and vitamin D? Women who supplemented vitamin D and calcium for four years had a reduced risk of all cancers of 60-77%.[3] It is also known that women who live in sunny areas and spend the most time in the sunlight reduce their risk of breast cancer by 65%.[4] Other research shows that women who have the highest blood levels of vitamin D reduce the risk by 69% compared with those who have the lowest levels.[5]

For more on breast cancer and vitamin D, see my previous post: http://drsorenson.blogspot.com/2008/11/dont-be-deceived-adequate-vitamin-d.html

It has also recently been shown that an eating pattern high in meat, butter and margarine—“a food pattern characterized by high-fat food choices” doubled the risk of breast cancer when compared with those who ate low fat choices,[6] and other research has shown that the highest consumption of grapes, soy foods, green peppers and tomatoes all predict a 40% reduction in the risk of breast cancer.[7] It behooves all of us to eat our veggies and fruits. Alcohol consumption also increases breast cancer risk, so don’t get your grape consumption from wine!

When you are considering prophylactic measures against breast cancer, it might be a better choice to change lifestyle than to remove your non-cancerous breasts. Sunlight, exercise and avoiding junk food are kinder alternatives. Think about it!

[1] http://www.mdanderson.org/transcripts/breast_cancer_diagnosis_transcript.html
[2] McTiernan, A. Exercise and breast cancer – time to get moving? Editorial NEJM 1997;336, 1311-12.
[3] Lappe, J. et al. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1586–91.
[4] John, E. et al. Vitamin D and breast cancer risk: The HANES 1 epidemiologic follow-up study, 1971-1975 to 1992. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 1999;8:399-406.
[5] Abbas, S. et al. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of post-menopausal breast cancer—results of a large case-control study. Carcinogenesis. 2008;29:93-9.
[6] Schulz, M. Identification of a dietary pattern characterized by high-fat food choices associated with increased risk of breast cancer: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam Study. Br J Nutr. 2008 Nov;100(5):942-6.
[7] Do, M. et al. Fruits, vegetables, soy foods and breast cancer in pre- and postmenopausal Korean women: a case-control study. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2007 Mar;77(2):130-41.

Increased sunlight exposure means decreased prostate cancer.

How much do sunlight and vitamin D help to prevent prostate cancer?

In 2005, Dr. Esther John and colleagues reported on research in which they compared the lifetime sun exposure of 450 men with advanced prostate cancer with that of 455 men who did not have cancer.[1]

The men were divided into five groups (quintiles) according to the amount of sun exposure they had received.

The results were impressive.

The men in the highest quintile (fifth) of sun exposure had only 51% of the risk of prostate cancer as did those in the lowest quintile.

Several other studies have shown that high sun exposure over a lifetime relates to a considerably lower rate of death from prostate cancer.[2] [3] [4] [5]

The last study[5] showed that those who were born in a state with high solar radiation had a reduced risk of 49%.

Perhaps the most impressive research studies were done by Dr. S Moon and colleagues where they compared sunlight exposure and prostate cancer risk.[6]

The subjects in two of studies were divided into four groups (quartiles) according to the lifetime sunlight exposure they had received.

Those in the lowest quartile of sunlight exposure had more than three times the risk of developing prostate cancer as those in the highest quartile.

Dr. Moon’s group noted that when sunbathing was compared with prostate cancer, men in the lowest exposure quartile (fourth) of sunbathing had 5.33 times the risk of prostate cancer as those in the highest quartile.

Sunbathing is obviously a great habit for men, provided it isn’t overdone. Other research has indicated that “higher levels of cumulative exposure, adult sunbathing, childhood sunburning and regular holidays in hot climates were each independently and significantly associated with a reduced risk of this cancer.”[7]

Nevertheless, it is always best to avoid sunburn.

Can there be any doubt that sunlight and vitamin D are essential to a good prostate health?

[1] John, E. et al. sun exposure, vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and risk of advanced prostate cancer. Cancer Res 2005;65:5479.

[2] Freedman, D. et al. sunlight and mortality from breast, ovarian, colon, prostate and non-melanoma skin cancer: a composite death certificate based case-control study. Occup environ Med 2002;59:257-62.

[3]Hanchette, C. et al. Geographic patterns of prostate cancer mortality: Evidence for a protective effect of ultraviolet radiation. Cancer 1992;70:2861-69
[4] Schwartz, G. et al. Is vitamin D deficiency a risk factor for prostate cancer? [hypothesis] Anticancer Res 1990;10:1307-11.

[5] John, E. et al. Residential sunlight exposure is associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2004;89:-90.

[6] Moon, S. et al. Ultraviolet radiation: effects on risks of prostate and other internal cancers. Mutat Res 2005; 571:207–219.

[7] Bodiwala, D. et al. Prostate cancer risk and exposure to ultraviolet radiation: further support for the protective effect of sunlight. Cancer Lett 2003;192:145-49.

Sarah Palin, vitamin D and tanning beds, part 2.

To determine whether Sarah Palin was justified in installing a tanning bed in the Alaska Governor’s mansion, we need to decide whether or not the fear regarding sunlight as a cause of melanoma is justified.

Tanning beds, you see, emit the same type of ultraviolet light (UV) as summer sun.

First of all, let’s take a look at the history of UV exposure since 1900.

That year, approximately 75% of the population of the US worked outdoors; today, only 10% work outdoors.[1]

Yet, with this profoundly decreased exposure to sunlight, melanoma has increased dramatically in every age group since that time; for example, the lifetime risk of melanoma in 1930 was one in 1,500, whereas the risk today is one in 60.

Is there something wrong with this scenario?

If sunlight exposure causes melanoma, shouldn’t melanoma incidence decrease with decreasing sunlight exposure?

Other troubling facts for the dermatologists who march in lock-step with official policy: seventy-eight percent of all melanomas occur on areas of the body that are seldom exposed to sunlight,[2] and people who work indoors develop 50% more melanomas than those who work outdoors.[3]

Furthermore, among black people, nearly all melanomas occur on the soles of the feet and on the lower legs.[4]

Melanomas in women occur primarily on the upper leg and in men occur primarily on the back.[5]

These cancers also occur inside the mouth,[6] on sex organs[7] and in the armpits[8]—all areas of little or no sunlight exposure.

So here is my question for you to consider:

Do you believe that sunlight causes melanoma?

In other words, is the “sunlight creates melanoma” theory reasonable? Stay tuned for part three.

[1] Genuis, S. Keeping your sunny side up: How sunlight affects health and well-being. Can Fam Physician. 2006 April 10; 52(4): 422–423
[2] Christophers, A. Melanoma is not caused by sunlight. Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis 1998;422:113-17.
[3] Garland F. et al. Occupational sunlight exposure and melanoma in the USA Navy. Arch Environ Health 1990; 45:261-67.
[4] Crombie, I. et al. Racial differences in melanoma incidence. Br J Cancer 1979;40:185-93.
[5] Hakansson, N. et al. Occupational sunlight exposure and cancer incidence among Swedish construction workers. Epidemiology 2001;12:552-57.
[6] Burgess, A. et al. Parotidectomy: preoperative investigations and outcomes in a single surgeon practice. ANZ J Surg. 2008 Sep;78(9):791-3.
[7] Ribé, A Melanocytic lesions of the genital area with attention given to atypical genital nevi J Cutan Pathol. 2008 Nov;35 Suppl 2:24-7.
[8] Rhodes, A. Melanoma’s Public Message. Guest editorial, Skin and Allergy News 2003;34

Stop chronic aches and pains with vitamin D

As the winter approaches, aches and pains increase as vitamin D levels, already too low in most people, begin to plummet. Bringing vitamin D levels up can often alleviate or eliminate the pain.

For instance, Dr. Stewart Leavitt recently posted the results of a review of 22 scientific studies on the relationship of vitamin D deficiency to chronic pain. (http://Pain-Topics.org/VitaminD). This 2008 analysis is just the latest of many studies on vitamin D and pain, most of which have been ignored by the physicians that treat the disorder. In total, there were 3,670 patients with chronic pain, and 48% of them showed significant vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D supplementation was very helpful in alleviating the pain. Dr. Leavitt states: “When supplementation was provided for improving vitamin D status, pain and/or muscle weakness were resolved or at least subsided in most cases, and there were associated improvements in physical functioning.”

This has actually been known for about 25 years, but because it sells no drugs, it has been virtually ignored. Vitamin D sufficient to keep optimal levels in the blood can be purchased at Bio-Tech Pharmacal for about $10.00 per year, and sunlight—the most natural way to increase vitamin D, is free. Unfortunately, sunlight produces vitamin D only during the late spring through early fall in high latitudes.

The Powers of Darkness (the pharmaceutical/medical complex that has succeeded in frightening most people out of the sunlight) have created a shocking and widespread vitamin D deficiency that is manifesting itself in increased rates of cancer, heart disease, autism, diabetes and myriad other maladies, not the least of which is chronic pain.

Other research has shown similarly impressive results. In one interesting study, conducted on chronic pain patients in Minneapolis, Minnesota (45 degrees north latitude), it was found that 100% of African Americans, American Indians, East Africans and Hispanics were vitamin D deficient, as were most Caucasians.[1] In summer sunlight, dark-skinned people take up to 6 times as long to produce the same amount of vitamin D as light skinned people, making dark skinned people much more susceptible to vitamin D deficiency. Indoor lifestyles and the advice to slather with sunscreen, which can reduce vitamin D production during sunlight exposure by 99.5%[2] puts dark-skinned people at a considerable vitamin D deficiency disadvantage. In addition, during the winter at high latitudes in areas such as Minneapolis, there are several months where little or no vitamin D is produced by the skin due to the sun’s position in the southern sky; the UVB portion of sunlight that stimulates vitamin D production is filtered out by the atmosphere during those months. This is known as “vitamin D winter” and is especially important in the northern US, northern Europe and all of Canada. It is absolutely essential for dark-skinned adults to take vitamin D supplementation of 4,000 to 5,000 IU per day year around or regularly use a tanning bed to stave off pain and to reduce the excessive risk of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, etc., that plague them. It is also critical for most Caucasians during winter.

Another impressive result comes from a clinical observation of five vitamin D-deficient patients who suffered from myopathy, a disease of bone and muscle tissue. They were confined to wheelchairs and experienced severe fatigue, weakness, and chronic pain. After receiving 50,000 IU per week of vitamin D, all regained enough strength and energy within four to six weeks to be mobile and functional, and their aches and pains disappeared.[3] Other research reported that five chronic-pain patients at John Hopkins University Medical School were treated with vitamin D, and their pain resolved within a week![4]

Vitamin D is a potent anti-inflammatory and also helps to strengthen bone, joint and muscle tissue. Be sure to maintain optimal levels (50 ng/ml or 125 nmol/L) in order to avoid the aches and pains of winter.

[1] Plotnikoff G. et al. Prevalence of severe hypovitaminosis D in patients with persistent, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. Mayo Clin Proc. 2003;78:1463-70.
[2] Matsuoka, L. et al. sunscreens suppress cutaneous vitamin D3 synthesis. J Clin Endocrinology & Metab 1987; 64:1165-68.
[3] Prabhala, A. et al. Severe myopathy associated with vitamin D deficiency in western New York. Arch Intern Med 2000;160:1199-1203.
[4] Gloth, F. et al. Can vitamin D deficiency produce an unusual pain syndrome? Arch Intern Med 1991;152:1662-4.