15.04.2016

 
Vitamin D is essential for human life. It is vital for regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and facilitating normal immune system function. Getting a sufficient amount of the vitamin D is important for normal growth and development of bones and teeth.
 
Worldwide, an estimated 1 billion people have inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood, and deficiencies can be found in all ethnicities and age groups.
According to many studies, reduced levels of the vitamin D are associated with chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, some cancers, and multiple sclerosis, as well as infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and even the seasonal flu.
 
A new Northwestern study provides a major link between low levels of vitamin D and aggressive prostate cancer. Study was led by Dr. Adam Murphy.
 

 
Previous studies showing an association between vitamin D levels and aggressive prostate cancer were based on blood drawn well before treatment. The new Northwestern study provides a more direct correlation because it measured D levels within a couple of months before the tumor was visually identified as aggressive during surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy).
 
The study was part of a larger ongoing study of 1,760 men in the Chicago area examining correlation between low levels of vitamin D and prostate cancer.
 
The current study included 190 men, with average age of 64, who underwent a radical prostatectomy to remove their prostate from 2009 to 2014. Of that group, 87 men had aggressive prostate cancer.
 
Those with aggressive cancer had a median level of 22.7 ng/ml of vitamin D, the normal level of vitamin D is 30 ng/ml.
“Vitamin D deficiency may predict aggressive prostate cancer as a biomarker,” said lead investigator Adam Murphy.
 
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one man in seven is diagnosed with prostate cancer throughout his lifetime.
 
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Feb. 22.
The article was prepared by Tinatin Kachlishvili.
 
Source:
http://www.ndtv.com/health/vitamin-d-deficiency-linked-to-aggressive-prostate-cancer-1283224
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2016/03/vitamin-d-prostate-cancer.html
http://www.universityherald.com/articles/28950/20160302/vitamin-d-deficiency-linked-to-aggressive-prostrate-cancer.htm
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/#vitamin-d-deficiency-a-global-concern