ETS Tanning Bed Blog

Yet another personal health study has been published linking vitamin D deficiency to colon or colorectal cancer. According to the scientists at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, "vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of developing colorectal polyps and cancer ."

And while this isn't necessarily new news, it's one of the first studies to measure the impact of vitamin D supplements as opposed to simply measuring the outcome of a vitamin D deficiency or measuring vitamin D levels retroactively. More importantly, it's also one of the first studies to propose a genetic reasoning for why certain individuals may respond more or less favorably to vitamin D based therapies.

The personal health study followed 50 colorectal cancer patients, each of whom received 2000 IU (International Units) of vitamin D every day. Every patient saw their vitamin D levels go up, but those undergoing chemotherapy saw a significantly slower increase –– meaning there could be genetic changes occurring in the vitamin D metabolizing proteins.

They're not the only ones who say so.

According to an article on the Vitamin D Council website, in 1985, Cedric and Frank Garland found that increased sunlight and vitamin D reduced the likelihood of colon cancer . In 1989, the Garlands further found that vitamin D deficiency –– as created by air pollution and haze –– played a major role in colorectal cancer.

By understanding those genetic changes, the scientists at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute hope to improve patients' responses to vitamin D therapies, which are quickly becoming a popular chemotherapy alternative or complimentary therapy.

I'm no scientist, but it sounds like vitamin D just scored another major point on the critical vitamin board.

Cancer Monthly , a cancer patient advocacy magazine, has published yet another article linking sun exposure (including UV-B exposure which can be derived from indoor tanning in tanning salons) to a reduced cancer risk.

The article, published in March 2009, cites a recent study published in the Annals of Epidemiology (Grant WB, Mohr SB. Ecological studies of ultraviolet B, vitamin D and cancer since 2000. Annals of Epidemiology, 2009) that found strong associations between vitamin D deficiencies (we get vitamin D from the sun and UV-B sources like indoor tanning) and various cancers, particularly colon, and breast cancer.

Dr. William B. Grant, Director of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (SUNARC) and a prominent researcher on vitamin D, says there are 14 different types of cancer that can be linked to UV-B exposure deficiencies. And since vitamin D is rare in the food supply, often added as a fortified supplement, most people can only obtain about 200-300 IU of the vitamin on a daily basis through diet (a fraction of what’s needed). Meanwhile, even just a small amount of UV-B exposure (5-10 minutes) can produce 1,500 to 4,000 IU of the crucial vitamin.

According to the article, there are also strong links between vitamin D deficiencies and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and kidney cancer. As we have also detailed in our blog, researchers have also found connections between vitamin D and "a reduced incidence of other diseases," such as colds and flu, coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure.

Though Dr. Grant recommends taking a vitamin D supplement during the winter months, indoor tanning in tanning salons can actually replicate those same vitamin-D providing UV-B rays as the natural sun.

You can read the full article Cancer Monthly article here.