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Vitamin D Stalls Prostate Cancer

Vitamin D Stalls Prostate Cancer

Julian Whitaker, MD 

Vitamin D has been stealing the headlines lately, and the news just keeps getting better. The latest research suggests that high doses of vitamin D may actually stall the growth of prostate cancer.

Researchers at the University of Toronto randomly assigned high-risk prostate cancer patients to receive 400, 10,000, or 40,000 IU of vitamin D for three to eight weeks. Levels of calcitriol (a form of vitamin D3) in the prostate increased in proportion to each dose. Analysis showed that higher calcitriol levels were associated with higher levels of microRNAs (protein regulators that block the growth of prostate cancer) and lower levels of a protein that indicates cancer growth. “This study shows calcitriol makes the foot come off the gas pedal of cancer growth,” researcher Reinhold Vieth, PhD, reported. “Plain vitamin D provides the raw material to permit the body to take care of its own needs.”

Recommendation

  • It may be too soon to recommend that all men with prostate cancer supplement with 40,000 IU of vitamin D per day, but men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer should talk to their doctors about a trial of very high-dose vitamin D.

Modified from Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.

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