German researchers have recently suggested that frequent intake of vitamin D could reduce the risk of mortality in patients with cancer.
- Vitamin D contributes to the good quality of bone and muscle tissue as well as strengthening the immune system.
- Vitamin D intake comes from diet and exposure to the sun.
- German researchers have observed that a daily intake of vitamin D could reduce the risk of cancer-related mortality.
Essential for the proper functioning of the body, vitamin D contributes to the quality of bone and muscle tissue as well as to the strengthening of the immune system. However, vitamin D is not synthesized by the body. Two means therefore make it possible to meet the daily vitamin D requirements: food and exposure to the sun.
Cancer: frequent intake of vitamin D would reduce the risk of mortality
In a recent study published in the scientific journal Aging Research Reviews, German researchers have observed an association between vitamin D and reduced cancer-related mortality.
To reach this conclusion, the scientists looked at 14 studies that looked at the effects of vitamin D on 105,000 cancer patients. No significant results were found when the 14 studies were pooled, but when they were divided according to vitamin D intake, i.e. daily and low dose, or higher doses. elevated over longer intervals, a significant difference was observed.
Vitamin D: a 12% reduction in cancer-related mortality
In the four studies where patients received high doses of vitamin D, but very spaced out, the researchers did not notice any effect on cancer-related mortality. However, they identified a 12% reduction in cancer mortality in the ten studies of daily doses of vitamin D.
“We observed this 12% reduction in cancer mortality after untargeted administration of vitamin D3 to people with and without vitamin D deficiency. We can therefore assume that the effect is related to the use of vitamin D in the treatment of cancer, and the effect is significantly greater in people who are deficient in vitamin D”explained Ben Schöttker, author of the study and epidemiologist at the German Center for Cancer Research.
According to scientists, the effectiveness of daily doses of vitamin D is due to the more regular bioavailability of the hormone 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which is produced solely by the reactions of vitamin D in the body. This active agent could therefore inhibit the growth of tumours, and therefore reduce the risk of mortality.
