There has been an major surge of mainstream interest in Vitamin D for prevention and treatment of cancer. The following statistics provide an indication of the interest. In November, 2009:
Searching Google Scholar for ["Vitamin D" cancer|oncology] returns 37,000 articles published in the scientific literature since the year 2000. Browsing through this list clearly indicates the level of professional interest.
Searching PubMed for ["Vitamin D" cancer|oncology] returns 850,000 citations since the year 2000.
Searching Google for ["Vitamin D" cancer|oncology] returns 12,000,000 citations from just the past 12 months.
Although the use of Vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of cancer has not achieved the status of accepted medical practice, there is progress on multiple fronts that suggests it will do so. A growing cadre of researchers and clinicians is recommending the use of Vitamin D in this area and many primary care physicians are already incorporating it into their day-to-day practice.
This webpage is intended to introduce the oncology massage therapy community to this important developing trend.
The popular press thrives on sensationalism and "the latest thing". It is hard to know what to believe and what to ignore. And trying to find out from the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hose.
The best medical information comes from peer reviewed papers in established journals written by reputable physicians and researchers. But, it often takes several years for even groundbreaking developments to trickle down to the practice of medicine on the front lines.
The reports and videos presented below are presented by researchers and practicing physicians to speed up the dissemination of important information concerning Vitamin D and cancer. Going through them in the order presented will enhance understanding.
Vitamin D in a New Light ARTICLE
Donald Miller, MD is a cardiac surgeon, Professor of Surgery at Washington University and an acute observer of the medical scene. This reviews the current status of Vitamin D research as of 2007.Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It TRUE? VIDEO
This 30 minute video from the University of California lays out the evidence and presents the key concepts in plain English and simple graphics.Presentation Graphics (pdf) from the preceding video.
Disease Incidence Prevention Chart (pdf) from the preceding video.
D-Action - GrassrootsHealth WEBSITE
"A Non-Profit Consortium of Scientists, Organizations and Individuals Committed to Solving the Worldwide Vitamin D Deficiency Epidemic." This includes a number of other related videos and news items. Note the list of sponsors on the home page.Vitamin D Council WEBSITE
A non-profit educational organization founded to promote awareness of Vitamin D and its many beneficial effects. The website is edited by John Cannell, MD, a California psychiatrist and former general practitioner who has become a strong advocate for Vitamin D supplementation based on his own clinical experience.If you have absorbed the above items and want to go further, the following items may be of interest.
The Antibiotic Vitamin ARTICLE - "Deficiency in vitamin D may predispose people to infection." This article from Science News is reproduced on a leukemia patient website.
Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention - A Global Perspective PAPER
This paper from the July, 2009 issue of Annals of Epidemiology is a summary of what has been learned about the connections between Vitamin D and cancer. This paper is the primary source for the Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It TRUE? video above.Dose-Response of Vitamin D and a Mechanism for Prevention of Cancer PAPER
The presentation slides of another paper by Garland and others illustrating many of the same concepts with graphs, drawings and even a few cartoons.
