More Vitamin D in the Body Might Mean a Smaller Risk of Colorectal Cancer (Study)

 

Researchers assumed some vitamins might help you stay away from cancer, and a recent study confirms this. They have identified a correlation between a lower risk of colorectal cancer and a high concentration of vitamin D.

This disease occupies the third place among the most common cancers in the US, claiming over 50,000 victims in only a year. Therefore, a possible way to ward off the disease could be a huge achievement.

 

More Vitamin D Might Mean Fewer Risks of Colorectal Cancer

 

Researchers got interesting results as they compared colorectal cancer incidences with levels of vitamin D. They then calculated an optimal amount of the vitamin necessary to keep the cancer away.

This way, they saw this amount is bigger than the one indicated by medical guidelines. Usually, these guidelines only look at healthy bones, ignoring other possible benefits of the vitamin.

People who had fewer vitamin D than necessary for bone health were exposed to other risks. Five and a half years after they started the study, these people had 31 percent chances to develop colorectal cancer. In contrast, those who had vitamin D levels over the guidelines had a risk of only 22 percent.

 

There Have Been Many Debates on this Vitamin

 

However, we should take these results with a grain of salt. The study was observational and identified a correlation between vitamin D and colorectal cancer. Therefore, there is no cause and effect here. The smaller cancer chances might have a different cause, while other factors might influence these vitamin D levels.

However, the study still addresses an important issue. Researchers are still debating what vitamin D levels are optimal and how people should get them.

In previous studies, researchers followed different methods to measure the vitamin in the blood, so the results were really different. This might have caused previous results to be irrelevant for the colorectal cancer correlation.

This observational study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

 

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