Researchers recommend taking vitamin D supplements to prevent certain cancers.

Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego call for prompt public health action to increase intake of vitamin D3 as an inexpensive tool for prevention of diseases that claim millions of lives each year.

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Increased Mortality Rates

"The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, combined with the discovery of increased risks of certain types of cancer in those who are deficient, suggest that vitamin D deficiency may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers annually," according to the Moores Center research group.

"Breast cancer will strike one in eight American women in their lifetime, notes co-author Cedric F. Garland. "Early detection using mammography reduces mortality rates by approximately 20 percent. But use of vitamin D might prevent this cancer in the first place."

"African-American women who develop breast cancer are more likely to die from the disease than White women of the same age, notes Garland. African-Americans also have substantially poorer survival rates for colon, prostate and ovarian cancers as well." After making adjustments for socioeconomic status and access to healthcare, researchers conclude the difference in survival rate is linked to vitamin D deficiency.

The institution of a national public health action is strongly indicated, based on twenty-five years of worldwide studies on the benefits of vitamin D, Garland concludes. "Primary prevention of these cancers has largely been neglected, he suggests, but we now have proof that the incidence of colon, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer can be reduced dramatically by increasing the public