Women who are vitamin D deficient when they are diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to have their disease spread and are more likely to die than women who have adequate vitamin D levels, new Canadian research says.
The study found that women who were vitamin D deficient were 94 per cent more likely to have their cancer metastasize (spread) and 73 per cent more likely to die.
The research was led by Dr. Pamela Goodwin, a breast cancer researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. The study analyzed blood samples and disease outcome from more than 500 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1989 and 1995. Women were followed up for an average of 11 years.
Vitamin D and mood disorders among women: an integrative review.
Murphy PK, Wagner CL.
J Midwifery Womens Health. 2008 Sep-Oct;53(5):440-6. Review.
PMID: 18761297
Four of six studies reviewed imparted significant results, with all four showing an association between low 25(OH)D levels and higher incidences of four mood disorders: premenstrual syndrome, seasonal affective disorder, non-specified mood disorder, and major depressive disorder. This review indicates a possible biochemical mechanism occurring between vitamin D and mood disorders affecting women, warranting further studies of these variables using rigorous methodologies.
Teenage girls and elderly women living in northern Europe have low winter vitamin D status.
Andersen R, Mølgaard C, Skovgaard LT, Brot C, Cashman KD, Chabros E, Charzewska J, Flynn A, Jakobsen J, Kärkkäinen M, Kiely M, Lamberg-Allardt C, Moreiras O, Natri AM, O'brien M, Rogalska-Niedzwiedz M, Ovesen L.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005 Apr;59(4):533-41.
PMID: 15714215
doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602108
CONCLUSION: Vitamin D status is low in northern Europe during winter. More than one-third of the adolescent girls have vitamin D status below 25 nmol/l and almost all are below 50 nmol/l. Two-thirds of the elderly community-dwelling women have vitamin D status below 50 nmol/l. Use of vitamin D supplements is a significant positive determinant for S-25OHD for both girls and women (P = 0.001). SPONSORSHIP: The European Fifth Framework Programme (Contract No. QLK1-CT-2000-00623)
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of incident hypertension among young women.
Forman JP, Curhan GC, Taylor EN.
Hypertension. 2008 Nov;52(5):828-32. Epub 2008 Oct 6.
PMID: 18838623
doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.117630
Women in the lowest compared with highest quartile of plasma 25(OH)D had an adjusted odds ratio for incident hypertension of 1.66 (95% CI: 1.11 to 2.48; P for trend=0.01). Compared with women with sufficient levels, those with vitamin D deficiency (<30 ng/mL; 65.7% of the study population) had a multivariable odds ratio of 1.47 (95% CI: 1.10 to 1.97). Plasma 25(OH)D levels are inversely and independently associated with the risk of developing hypertension.
Healthy elderly French women living at home have secondary hyperparathyroidism and high bone turnover in winter. EPIDOS Study Group.
Chapuy MC, Schott AM, Garnero P, Hans D, Delmas PD, Meunier PJ.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1996 Mar;81(3):1129-33.
PMID: 8772587
These results show that vitamin D status of a French aged population in good health and living at home depends mainly on lifestyle. Like institutionalized women, old women living at home exhibit clear evidence of senile hyperparathyroidism in the winter, secondary in part to a reduced 25OHD level and associated with biological signs of increased bone turnover. The maintenance of PTH within the normal range for healthy adults by vitamin D and calcium treatment might constitute an approach for the prevention of bone loss in the entire
A New Zealand study has found that South Asian women with insulin resistance improved markedly after taking vitamin D supplements
Nutrition researcher Pamela von Hurst of the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany, said while diet and exercise played a major part in the onset of type-2 diabetes, her findings reinforced the importance of vitamin D from the sun and supplements to prevent type-2 diabetes.
Initial screening of 235 Auckland women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka aged 20 and older, revealed 47 per cent were insulin deficient and 84 per cent were vitamin D deficient. The 81 recruited for the study were split into two groups for a randomised controlled trial and given a vitamin D supplement or placebo. As well as an improvement in insulin resistance among those who took vitamin D for six months, Ms Von Hurst said post-menopausal women in the study also showed a reduced rate of bone breakdown.
Plasma calcidiol, season, and serum parathyroid hormone concentrations in healthy elderly men and women.
Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Dallal GE.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Jan;65(1):67-71.
PMID: 8988915
Plasma calcidiol and serum PTH concentrations were inversely related, with PTH rising slowly as calcidiol concentrations declined below 110 nmol/L (95 CI: 60, 168 nmol/L). More than 90% of the men and women had calcidiol concentrations below this value in the wintertime. The high prevalence of lower wintertime calcidiol values may increase risk of bone loss in elderly men and women.
"In a prospective study involving 6,937 men and women, higher levels of vitamin D were associated with a significantly lower risk of lung cancer in women and younger participants. During a maximum follow-up of 24 years, 122 cases of lung cancer were identified. After adjusting for potential confounders, higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were associated with reduced risk of lung cancer risk in women (84% reduced risk) and younger participants (66% reduced risk). No association was observed between vitamin D status and lung cancer risk in men and older participants. "
Prevalence of Vitamin D inadequacy among postmenopausal North American women receiving osteoporosis therapy.
Holick MF, Siris ES, Binkley N, Beard MK, Khan A, Katzer JT, Petruschke RA, Chen E, de Papp AE.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Jun;90(6):3215-24. Epub 2005 Mar 29.
PMID: 15797954
doi:10.1210/jc.2004-2364
Conclusions: More than half of North American women receiving therapy to treat or prevent osteoporosis have vitamin D inadequacy, underscoring the need for improved physician and public education regarding optimization of vitamin D status in this population.
Vitamin D3 and calcium to prevent hip fractures in the elderly women.
Chapuy MC, Arlot ME, Duboeuf F, Brun J, Crouzet B, Arnaud S, Delmas PD, Meunier PJ.
N Engl J Med. 1992 Dec 3;327(23):1637-42.
PMID: 1331788
CONCLUSIONS. Supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium reduces the risk of hip fractures and other nonvertebral fractures among elderly women.
Wintertime vitamin D insufficiency is common in young Canadian women, and their vitamin D intake does not prevent it.
Vieth R, Cole DE, Hawker GA, Trang HM, Rubin LA.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2001 Dec;55(12):1091-7.
PMID: 11781676
INTERPRETATION: The self-reported vitamin D intake from milk and/or multivitamins does not relate to prevention of low vitamin D nutritional status of young women in winter. Recommended vitamin D intakes are too small to prevent insufficiency. Vitamin D nutrition can only be assessed by measuring serum 25(OH)D concentration.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Younger white women with vitamin D deficiencies are about three times more likely to have high blood pressure in middle age than those with normal vitamin levels, according to a study released on Thursday.
The study, presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago, adds younger women to a growing list of people including men who may develop high blood pressure at least in part because of low vitamin D.
High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency despite supplementation in premenopausal women with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.
Crew KD, Shane E, Cremers S, McMahon DJ, Irani D, Hershman DL.
J Clin Oncol. 2009 May 1;27(13):2151-6. Epub 2009 Apr 6.
PMID: 19349547
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2008.19.6162
Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in women with breast cancer. The current recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D is too low to increase serum 25-OHD greater than 30 ng/mL. Optimal dosing for bone health and, possibly, improved survival has yet to be determined.
Can vitamin D supplementation prevent winter-time blues? A randomised trial among older women.
Dumville JC, Miles JN, Porthouse J, Cockayne S, Saxon L, King C.
J Nutr Health Aging. 2006 Mar-Apr;10(2):151-3.
PMID: 16554952
CONCLUSIONS: Supplementing elderly women with 800 IU of vitamin D daily did not lead to an improvement in mental health scores.
Vitamin D3 and calcium to prevent hip fractures in the elderly women.
Chapuy MC, Arlot ME, Duboeuf F, Brun J, Crouzet B, Arnaud S, Delmas PD, Meunier PJ.
N Engl J Med. 1992 Dec 3;327(23):1637-42.
PMID: 1331788
CONCLUSIONS. Supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium reduces the risk of hip fractures and other nonvertebral fractures among elderly women.
25(OH)D Serum levels decline with age earlier in women than in men and less efficiently prevent compensatory hyperparathyroidism in older adults.
Maggio D, Cherubini A, Lauretani F, Russo RC, Bartali B, Pierandrei M, Ruggiero C, Macchiarulo MC, Giorgino R, Minisola S, Ferrucci L.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005 Nov;60(11):1414-9.
PMID: 16339327
Conclusions. These findings suggest that the age-associated fall of serum 25(OH)D starts earlier in women than in men and that higher levels of 25(OH)D are required in older compared to younger persons to avoid the age-associated compensatory hyperparathyroidism.
Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha concentrations are negatively correlated with serum 25(OH)D concentrations in healthy women.
Peterson CA, Heffernan ME.
J Inflamm (Lond). 2008 Jul 24;5:10.
PMID: 18652680
doi:10.1186/1476-9255-5-10
Conclusion
Serum 25(OH)D status is inversely related to TNF-α concentrations in healthy women, which may in part explain this vitamin's role in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases. Results gleaned from this investigation also support the need to re-examine the biological basis for determining optimal vitamin D status.
Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
von Hurst PR, Stonehouse W, Coad J.
Br J Nutr. 2009 Sep 28:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19781131
In conclusion, improving vitamin D status in insulin resistant women resulted in improved IR and sensitivity, but no change in insulin secretion. Optimal vitamin D concentrations for reducing IR were shown to be 80-119 nmol/l, providing further evidence for an increase in the recommended adequate levels. Registered Trial No. ACTRN12607000642482.
"Women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with insulin resistance showed marked improvement after taking vitamin D supplements, says a study.
Von Hurst, nutrition lecturer at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany, conducted the study for her doctoral thesis.
Insulin resistance is largely symptom-free and sufferers are unaware of their condition. 'Once it has fully developed into type-2 diabetes, it can be treated, but not cured,' says Von Hurst.
Von Hurst says that while diet and exercise play a major part in the onset of type-2 diabetes, her findings reinforce the importance of vitamin D from the sun and supplements to prevent type-2 diabetes. She also found evidence of vitamin D increasing bone strength in older women.
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Prevalence of low serum vitamin D concentration in an urban population of elderly women in Poland.
Napiórkowska L, Budlewski T, Jakubas-Kwiatkowska W, Hamzy V, Gozdowski D, Franek E.
Pol Arch Med Wewn. 2009 Nov;119(11):699-703.
PMID: 19920793
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of low vitamin D concentrations in an urban population of elderly women in Poland is very high. Lower vitamin D levels are associated with a higher PTH concentration