Originally published September 10 2012
Vitamin D helps prevent prostate cancer
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) Slowly, studies within conventional medicine's research facilities support what alternative and holistic practitioners have known for some time: Vitamin D3 helps prevent and cure disease, including cancer.
A recent example was offered from research by D.T. Marshall with the Medical University of South Carolina using 52 low risk prostate cancer patients taking 4,000 units of D3 daily for one year. Most of the 240,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer have low risk prostate cancer.
The mortality rate for prostate cancer is very low, and the cancer industry has exhibited a growing awareness of the lack of necessity for drastic early interventions, such as radiation or surgery, among low risk prostate cancer patients.
So they've been looking into monitoring low risk prostate cancer with "watchful waiting" before doing anything with a nasty, long-term side effect potential, which is actually all conventional medicine can offer. Watchful waiting demands regular visits for testing.
The Gleason score index combines a numerical rating of how many cancer cells are observed in a needle biopsy tissue sample and a numerical rating of those cells' aggressiveness and patterns. The two are combined for a final score.
How the study was done and its result
The 52 men diagnosed with low risk prostate cancer according to Gleason scores were monitored every two months for one year as they took 4,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 daily.
Soft gels of 400 IU each were administered and monitored for adverse effects. None were detected at the 4,000 IU daily level. Prostate specific antigens (PSA) tests were performed every two months. Both before and after the one year study all 52 men had biopsies done to determine their Gleason scores.
The PSA scores were not influenced much at all. But PSA counts are not considered reliable by even everyone in the cancer industry. A high PSA count can be from other glandular conditions, such as an enlarged or inflamed, prostate gland.
At the end of the year; however, 55 percent of the men had experienced a lower Gleason score, five percent had no change, and 34 percent showed higher Gleason scores compared to the beginning of the year.
This was a decent result with an insufficient study
The researchers hailed the use of 4,000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily as significantly higher than the official RDA (recommended daily allowance) of 400 IUs. Many NaturalNews readers know up to 40,000 IUs of vitamin D3 can be tolerated daily for a short duration. (http://www.naturalnews.com/028356_bowel_cancer_vitamin_D.html)
Most who supplement vitamin D3 take closer to 8,000 to 10,000 IUs daily. The study's report didn't observe the D3 serum levels of the low Gleason scoring patients.
Few who use vitamin D3 get their D3 serum levels up to a therapeutic threshold, which can be determined by a 25(OH)D serum analysis. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, conventional medicine's standard maximum level for 25(OH)D testing, 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) is substandard.
He recommends maintaining an optimal level of over 32 ng/ml, with 50ng/ml to 70ng/ml being optimum. Therapeutic levels of D3 are 70ng/ml to 100ng/ml. (Mercola D3 levels, source below)
Above 100 ng/ml may lead to vitamin D3 toxicity. So here are two research suggestions that would have probably had better results than the one reported here.
Using the 25(OH)D test, determine which D3 daily dosing achieves at least 50 ng/l D3 serum levels while shooting for higher numbers for each individual. Then ensure that the study subjects are on decent diets eliminating sugar (cancer's primary food) and processed foods with toxic sweeteners and additives.
Quite possibly many would have had even their low risk prostate cancers eliminated. (http://www.naturalnews.com/035063_vitamin_D_cancer_facts.html)
Sources for this article include:
http://www.foodconsumer.org
http://www.npr.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleason_Grading_System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer_staging
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/psa-test/MY00180/
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