Cancer

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By Gailon Totheroh
CBN News Science and Medical Reporter
June 23, 2007

CBNNews.com - A new study released last week is building hope that a miracle substance can prevent most cancers.

It's not a drug, it's vitamin D.

The new study found supplemental vitamin D cut the risk of several types of cancer by 60 percent overall for older women in the most rigorous study yet.

The body makes vitamin D in the skin -- but most people are probably deficient, according to studies.

Some specialists say the new research strengthens the case that vitamin D is a powerful cancer preventive. Experts remain split, though, on how much to take.

In the study, participants took 1,100 international units a day for four years. That's almost three times the government recommendation.

Some critics say it was too small a study to be that significant. Others note that the study was of women only. Still others point out the study was designed to look at bone health, not cancer.

But physicians like Don Colbert were already convinced about vitamin D even before the study came out.

"Vitamin D actually helps to put the brakes on cancer cell growth or on cell growth, in particular," Colbert said. "So we're finding now that vitamin D helps to prevent prostate cancer, breast cancer and even colon cancer."

The research comes at a time when more and more benefits of vitamin D are being researched. Those potential vitamin D advantages include boosting circulation, the immune system, and even mental health.

But cancer is a major killer, and if the benefits are even half what the researchers found, the research is a breakthrough for medicine and public health.

The research has so impressed the Canadian Cancer Society that it's recommending most adults take 1,000 international units every day in fall and winter. In those months, people don't get enough sun to make much, if any, vitamin D in the skin.

In fact, there is nothing else known -- no drug, no lifestyle change, no nutrient -- that can prevent cancer like this vitamin D study seems to show.

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Page 47

INDIANAPOLIS-A popular beverage may do more than just quench your thirst, an
Indiana University School of Medicine researcher reported Sept. 14 at the Second
International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health in Washington, D.C.
The beverage, tea, has beneficial effects on reducing the level of oxidative stress,
especially in smokers, reported James Klaunig, Ph.D., director of the Division of
Toxicology and a professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

"We looked at smokers and non-smokers and showed that tea consumption resulted
in a decrease in oxidative damage in humans," he said. "Cancer, emphysema and
heart disease might be related to oxidative stress. Tea may not cure it, but it may slow
down the pathologic consequences. It appears to function as an antioxidant similar to
vitamin E and vitamin C except the components in tea are more potent than in those
vitamins."

Participants in this research included 50 Hoosiers between the ages of 25 and 55 and
240 Chinese soldiers. Dr. Klaunig has an appointment as a visiting professor at
Beijing Medical University, allowing him to conduct research in one of the major tea
drinking countries in the world. He said the Chinese soldiers were excellent test
subjects because they share a common lifestyle and diet.

Dr. Klaunig began his tea research about seven years ago, looking at the beverage's
effects as an antioxidant in in vitro tissue cell cultures. Later, his research moved to
mice. The rodents were given drinking water with a 2 percent concentration of tea,
similar to the amount present in beverages consumed by humans.

"We showed tea can prevent chemically induced liver and lung cancer in mice," he
said.

Dr. Klaunig explained that tea mainly works in the tumor promotion stage when
precancerous cells first begin to divide and grow.

"We have not looked at whether it prevents metastases, but we do know it prevents
tumor cells from growing," he said.

Dr. Klaunig is a true believer in the benefits of tea - he sips it all day long, he says,
after his initial cup of coffee.

Black, green or oolong tea, served hot or cold, all have the same beneficial effects, he
says. The secret is in the quantity.

Tea Linked To Tumor Repression, Reduction Of Disease, Indiana University Researcher Says
"The more you drink, the better off you may be," he advises.
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Contact: Mary Hardin
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