It's always a shock to realize that nobody really knows much about what Vitamin D does, or how it works. You'd think science has at least understood vitamins by now.
Years and years ago, the Nixon Presidency commissioned a "cancer map" of the USA. You can get the interactive map here.
At the time, people honestly thought it was a waste of time. But look at what it showed:
Stunningly, there's more cancer everywhere there's less sunlight. Colon, pancreas, breast, liver, brain, leukaemia, lung.
Areas that are heavily polluted in the atmosphere like around the Great Lakes have more cancer too, as less UV rays penetrate. You can't see that at this resolution, but there's a cancer rim around each lake.
For decades, data collected has consistently showed this around the world too. There is less cancer near the Equator. More as you move North or South. The place with the highest rates is New Zealand.
Why is that? Does Cancer like the dark?
Well, no. At each latitude, you will find another variation. The darker the skintone, the more likely cancer will occur, all other factors being equal.
Additionally, as people age, they get more cancer too. Everywhere.
The common factor here is vitamin D level. We make less in less sunshine. Less if we age. Less if our skin is darker.
More Vitamin D = Less Cancer in the population.
Here's a recent blood level study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29906273/ where they found that breast cancer drops in a linear manner as the Vitamin D rises.
If we just gave women Vitamin D tablets, and scrapped all the mammograms, we could cut the rate of that cancer to 1/3 what it is now.
It would also hit a lot of other cancers.
https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/vitamin-d-levels-linked-to-lower-colorectal-cancer-risk.html ---- like colorectal cancer.
Or liver cancer:
You see where this is going. Even if we selectively just dosed the highest risk categories- older people, darker skin, at the higher latitudes where there's pollution, it could make a staggering difference to medical costs, and lives saved. If we just got cancer patients to take Vitamin D , maybe it could stop recurrence too. The downside? Stronger bones? There's practically no side effect.
And if you REALLY want to be cheap, just get the people to walk around in the sun.
As a rough rule of thumb, getting the Vitamin D blood level to 50ng/ml would drop the cancer rates by 50%. Some kinds more, some kinds less.
Unfortunately, the blood test is practically useless. There's a staggering variation in results from lab to lab.
I want to dig into the mechanism of why this Vitamin D substance does this to a wide range of disease, in follow up posts, if there's interest.
Also look at what it's doing to other processes in our bodies. I'm too old to start a Ph.D now, but getting people aware of what is known might be a better way to go.
Years and years ago, the Nixon Presidency commissioned a "cancer map" of the USA. You can get the interactive map here.
At the time, people honestly thought it was a waste of time. But look at what it showed:
Stunningly, there's more cancer everywhere there's less sunlight. Colon, pancreas, breast, liver, brain, leukaemia, lung.
Areas that are heavily polluted in the atmosphere like around the Great Lakes have more cancer too, as less UV rays penetrate. You can't see that at this resolution, but there's a cancer rim around each lake.
For decades, data collected has consistently showed this around the world too. There is less cancer near the Equator. More as you move North or South. The place with the highest rates is New Zealand.
Why is that? Does Cancer like the dark?
Well, no. At each latitude, you will find another variation. The darker the skintone, the more likely cancer will occur, all other factors being equal.
Additionally, as people age, they get more cancer too. Everywhere.
The common factor here is vitamin D level. We make less in less sunshine. Less if we age. Less if our skin is darker.
More Vitamin D = Less Cancer in the population.
Here's a recent blood level study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29906273/ where they found that breast cancer drops in a linear manner as the Vitamin D rises.
If we just gave women Vitamin D tablets, and scrapped all the mammograms, we could cut the rate of that cancer to 1/3 what it is now.
It would also hit a lot of other cancers.
https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/vitamin-d-levels-linked-to-lower-colorectal-cancer-risk.html ---- like colorectal cancer.
Or liver cancer:
The evidence from this meta-analysis suggests that there may be an inverse relationship between serum vitamin D levels and the risk of liver cancer.
You see where this is going. Even if we selectively just dosed the highest risk categories- older people, darker skin, at the higher latitudes where there's pollution, it could make a staggering difference to medical costs, and lives saved. If we just got cancer patients to take Vitamin D , maybe it could stop recurrence too. The downside? Stronger bones? There's practically no side effect.
And if you REALLY want to be cheap, just get the people to walk around in the sun.
As a rough rule of thumb, getting the Vitamin D blood level to 50ng/ml would drop the cancer rates by 50%. Some kinds more, some kinds less.
Unfortunately, the blood test is practically useless. There's a staggering variation in results from lab to lab.
I want to dig into the mechanism of why this Vitamin D substance does this to a wide range of disease, in follow up posts, if there's interest.
Also look at what it's doing to other processes in our bodies. I'm too old to start a Ph.D now, but getting people aware of what is known might be a better way to go.
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