year-old cousin. She has discovered, on her own, what her doctors never told her and what cancer specialists are now highlighting: that a vitamin D deficiency may be linked to breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy a few years ago, followed by radiation. She has been doing well since. But she found when she insisted on being given a vitamin D blood test, that she was deficient. Apparently, this is much more common than many of us know. And dermatologists have been fighting for years over how much exposure is necessary for us to get sufficient amounts for our health. Too much and you could end up with skin cancer, if you go the sun route. Too many supplements, and - well, too much of anything can be toxic. But testing for levels of D is not routinely suggested by most doctors, even though Dr. James E. Dowd, author of “The Vitamin D Cure,” claims that 60 percent of Americans are vitamin D-deficient. Ongoing studies by researchers at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto have been suggesting there is a breast cancer/vitamin D link and that D may play a significant role in reducing breast cancer risk. The most recent Toronto study, released by the American Society of Clinical Oncology in early May, goes further than previous ones done in Toronto. It suggests that women with low D at breast cancer diagnosis were more likely to see the disease spread and even more likely to die. The researchers shied away, however, from making a direct statement that lack of D can cause these breast cancer outcomes. Studies are continuing. Two years ago, the controversy over sun exposure was so hot that I interviewed a professor at Boston University who had been castigated by his peers for suggesting sun might be good for us. Dr. Michael Holick's book, “The UV Advantage,” kicked off the controversy. Holick doesn't believe we can get enough D from food alone. That's because Holick and his supporters recommend 1,000 units of vitamin D daily, and he says that is impossible to get from food. He suggests, in addition to a formula outlined in his book for sun exposure, that people take 1,000 units daily in the form of a vitamin D3 supplement that you can get at Whole Foods and other markets. He was very specific about looking for D3. What about sun exposure? “If you're light-skinned, during June, at noon, (limit to) about three to five minutes,” he said. And that includes Floridians, who could do this for about two to three times weekly. He has a complicated scientific formula that he describes in more detail in his book. All this research is tantalizing and disturbing. If we are so lacking in this essential vitamin, why don't more of us get tested? Probably because our doctors don't mention it and we don't ask. And because we are so afraid, and rightly so, of the fatal consequences linked to severe skin cancer, we may not realize we can safely be exposed briefly and that, combined with vitamin D supplements, we may stave off other forms of cancer. - Cox News Service __
