(NaturalNews) The health benefits of
vitamin D are almost becoming too numerous to count, with yet another new study
presented at the recent American Association for Cancer Research Pancreatic
Cancer Conference in Lake Tahoe, Nev., shedding light on the hormone's
specific anti-cancer benefits. According to the groundbreaking research,
individuals exposed to natural sunlight, which is the most abundant source of
natural vitamin D, are nearly 50 percent less likely to develop pancreatic
cancer than others who are not exposed.
Dr. Rachel Neale, Ph.D., and her colleagues from the Queensland Institute of
Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, conducted a case-control study in
which 704 patients with pancreatic cancer, and 709 healthy individuals with no
history of pancreatic cancer, were evaluated based on blood serum levels of
25-hydroxy vitamin D, the hormonal marker of vitamin D in the body. Each
individual's birth location, skin cancer history, skin cancer type, tanning
ability, and predisposition to sunburn was also taken into account.
The team then used NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer to assess each
participant's level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure to his or her
birthplace, the data of which was used to place participants into various
tertile groups for average UV radiation exposure. At the end of the day,
researchers found that participants who lived in areas with the highest amount
of sunlight exposure were 24 percent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer
than individuals who lived in low sunlight areas.
Additionally, individuals with the most sun-sensitive skin, who are typically
lighter-skinned individuals, were found to be roughly 50 percent less likely to
develop pancreatic cancer than individuals with the least amount of sun
sensitivity. Overall, there was a direct correlation between high sunlight
exposure and low rates of pancreatic cancer in the study, a result that suggests
vitamin D plays a critical role in pancreatic cancer prevention.
"High levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer
based on both observational studies of individuals and geographic studies of
populations," writes the Vitamin D Council on their website. "Based on
studies of breast, colon, and rectal cancer, vitamin D levels above 40 ng/mL
(100 nmol/L) reduce the risk of cancer. Thus, maintaining vitamin D blood levels
above 40 ng/mL may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer."