Does Vitamin D Have a Role in Cancer Prevention?

Hi Roger,

Now able to view thank you.

There are quite a number of things concerning diet and supplements that may help when it comes to avoiding or delaying the development of PCa and vitamin D could be one of them. I remember as a child during WW2 I was given a spoonful of Cod Liver oil each day and was given two or three drops of Halibut oil. I did subsequently have the Cod Liver oil capsules but stopped these when a wider range of food became available and advice was these were not necessary with a well balanced diet. Clearly, diet, vitamins and supplements need to be considered earlier.

At one time there was a thought that very high amounts of intravenously given, rather than ingested vitamin C would not only stop cancer but reverse it. If memory serves me correctly, and it was some 11 years ago now, I found an article on a practitioner in the USA who did this and apparently had good success but came up against the FDA (or whatever they called themselves at the time) and it was suggested that with big Pharma applied pressure to stop this treatment being given to patients was carried out.

There are so many things that are supposed to help stop or slow PCa. tomatoes (particularly fried) and pomegranate juice are two that come to mind. Then I have a cutting that says 'Eating nuts slashes prostate cancer death risk by a third'. Five 1oz serving a week of any type of nut cut mortality by 34% researchers found* . Nuts are rich in tocopherols type of vitamin E, They also contain phytochemicals thought to have anti-cancer properties.
* Latest study published in the British Journal of Cancer by experts at Harvard Medical School in Boston tracked 47,000 men over 26 years and identified 6,800 who developed Pca. Eating nuts regularly seemed to have little effect in terms of preventing malignant growths but surprisingly found sufferers who ate nuts at least five times a week were 34% less likely to die from PCa than those who ate nuts once a month

I can't find the story now about high dose vitamin C but if you have the time, this long film of 2010 is quite fascinating and shows what some innovators in the  the USA came up against from Big Pharma and the medical establishment.  Whilst there are certainly quacks out there, and some elaborate treatment have improved outcomes, one might question whether there are answers in more simple less expensive solutions as suggested in this film. https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cancer-forbidden-cures/

Edited by member 27 Jan 2019 at 08:16  | Reason: Not specified

I've tracked down the actual research, rather than the Daily Mail's version

Nut consumption and prostate cancer risk and mortality

It tells a rather different story. They essentially say men with prostate cancer who eats nuts regularly tend to live longer; which is fair enough, when it's long been established that men who eat nuts regularly (with or without prostate cancer) tend to live longer. And, in a nutshell, that's ALL it says.

It is, in fact, the 50% who don't die of prostate cancer (but die with) it who are living longer, especially bearing in mind that their subjects were "4346 PCa patients without metastasis at diagnosis" - the group most likely not to die of PCa itself.

This is a beautiful example of an article that shows one thing being bent to imply something different. Interestingly, one of the senior authors declared a "research grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation". Well. Fancy that.

Well here is a statement from the NHS regarding the benefit of eating nuts. Surely it would be irresponsible of the NHS to put this out if the source was dubious? It was based on a computation by a Norwegian University of various studies with input from Imperial College London among others https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/handful-of-nuts-cuts-heart-disease-and-cancer-risk/

Large doses of vitamin C have been given to cancer patients, often to supplement another form of treatment but results seem rather inconclusive and there is a lack of properly organized trials. Here is an interesting take on it. http://whitakerwellness.com/health-concerns/alternative-cancer-treatments/vitamin-c-iv-therapy/

Edited by member 27 Jan 2019 at 12:58  | Reason: Not specified

But I have been pretty healthy apart from that, with, thankfully, few problems with my arthritic feet since upping Vitamin D levels.

It's often how much vitamin D you're getting. Many people don't get enough especially in winter in north Europe. The sun only becomes strong enough for your skin to produce it between April and September.  It isn't a vitamin that's widely available in your diet although your body does store it. So supplements are useful in winter. I've read the supplement should be Vitamin D3 which is the most natural form.  Your body doesn't produce a lot.

It's supposed to be good for bones and immune system.

In general you need a good range of vitamins from a broad and balanced, low fat, low sugar diet. Easy to say. We have quite a good diet but I've had 3 cancers.  In general I blame bad habits although for the PCa I have several possible theories.