Should you remove your breasts to prevent breast cancer? Would sunlight/vitamin D and exercise be a better choice?

I just read with horror a discussion among cancer "experts" about one of the worst atrocities being committed by medicine: the removal of a woman's breasts as a procedure to prevent breast cancer in women who are genetically susceptible to that disease. One of them stated that the procedure was "95% effective."

Increased sunlight exposure means decreased prostate cancer.

How much do sunlight and vitamin D help to prevent prostate cancer?

In 2005, Dr. Esther John and colleagues reported on research in which they compared the lifetime sun exposure of 450 men with advanced prostate cancer with that of 455 men who did not have cancer.[1]

The men were divided into five groups (quintiles) according to the amount of sun exposure they had received.

The results were impressive.

Can vitamin D and sunlight exposure prevent type-two diabetes?

There are two types of diabetes: type-1 and type-2.

Type-1 is generally known as "juvenile" diabetes, and type-2 is known as adult-onset diabetes.

In type-2 diabetes (90% of all diabetes), insulin is sometimes necessary, but the real reason for the disease is the body's inability to use its own insulin (insulin resistance).

Sarah Palin, Vitamin D and tanning beds part 6: conclusion

This may surprise you, but I believe it is a good idea to be checked regularly by a dermatologist to assess any changes that may occur to your skin.

That advice, however, is most important for those who do not use tanning beds or get regular sunlight, since more melanomas occur among those who receive little or no UVB (see previous posts).

So let's do a few mathematics.

Sarah Palin, vitamin D and tanning beds: part 5

If you do not know if your drug is photosensitive, ask a pharmacist.

The next post will finish this discussion about Sarah, vitamin D and tanning beds. Stay tuned!

Sarah Palin, vitamin D and tanning beds, part 4:
The truth about tanning beds and melanoma

We have discussed in this "Sarah Palin" series, the fact that she was probably correct in installing (with her own money) a tanning bed in the Alaska Governor's mansion.

We showed that melanoma risk has increased exponentially as sunlight exposure had decreased.

The latest on vitamin D and cancer: Dr William Grant's brilliant review.

Dr William Grant, who writes and compiles research as fast as I can read it, gave me a tremendous assist in keeping me abreast of the current research as I wrote my book.

His latest paper is entitled "How strong is the evidence that solar ultraviolet B and vitamin D reduce the risk of cancer?"

Sarah Palin's tanning bed, part 3. Will the tanning bed kill her, or will the vitamin D save her life?

Sunlight exposure and tanning have been vilified by many (but not all) dermatologists some of who call them "cancer machines."

Vitamin D deficiency correlates to risk of pre-eclampsia.

This will be one of three that will discuss the impact of vitamin D deficiency on health problems specific to women and/or their newborns.

First let's discuss a common disorder of pregnant women called pre-eclampsia.

Sarah Palin, vitamin D and tanning beds, part 2.

To determine whether Sarah Palin was justified in installing a tanning bed in the Alaska Governor's mansion, we need to decide whether or not the fear regarding sunlight as a cause of melanoma is justified.

Is asthma a disease of sunlight/vitamin D deficiency?

Yes. Asthma, to a great extent, is caused by sun avoidance and consequent vitamin D deficiency.

Asthma, a devastating respiratory illness, is increasing rapidly in the US.

Does vitamin D deficiency relate to anxiety and panic?

If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you should read the following and then assure that your blood-vitamin D levels are optimal. Your 25(OH)D, or calcidiol, level should be between 50-60 ng/ml.

Anxiety is pandemic in the USA, and according to a 2007 research study, vitamin D deficiency correlates very closely to anxiety in people who suffer from fibromyalgia.

Sarah Palin, Tanning Beds and Vitamin D: Who is correct, Sarah or the American Academy of Dermatology?

Sarah Palin, in addition to taking the country by storm as the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, created a controversy by purchasing (with her own funds) and installing a tanning bed in the Alaska Governor's mansion.

Serum vitamin D levels, heart attack and stroke: Vitamin D can save your life!

It has been some time since I posted anything about heart disease, and since I have been asked to send my agent something to present to Larry King, I thought I might as well post it as a blog, too.

Suffice it to say that there is no blood test more important than vitamin D [calcidiol or 25(OH)D].

Can vitamin D and Sunlight make you smarter?

The preponderance of evidence suggests that higher blood levels of vitamin D correlate to better cognitive ability (ability to think), so if you want a higher IQ, it behooves you to keep your vitamin D levels high.

Vitamin D and infertility part 2

We previously discussed the relationship of fertility to vitamin D, but a new report adds credence to the idea that infertility may be due in great part to vitamin D deficiency.

Does Vitamin D help prevent Type-one Diabetes?

A new study shows that most type-one diabetic children have low levels of vitamin D.[1] Dr. Lori Laffel, senior author or the research, expressed surprise that only 24% of the children studied had adequate levels.

I told you so! A new study shows that vitamin D is critically important to prevent breast cancer.

There was an uproar recently about a study indicating that vitamin D supplementation had no affect on breast cancer risk.[1]

The press picked it up and regurgitated it ad nauseam as if were the end-all-be all of scientific studies.

I told you then that it was bad research because it used a miniscule quantity of vitamin D 400 IU per day rather like trying to attack an elephant with a bb gun.

Vitamin D, Flu and the Immune System: Part 2...The Answer!

We now have the answer to preventing the next flu pandemic. This is the second part of the blog on flu. See the first for the background information.

Vitamin D, the Immune System and the Yearly Outbreaks of Flu...Is the solution to good to be true?

Vitamin D boosts the immune system and enhances the body's ability to kill bacteria or viruses intercellular invaders that make their way into body cells.

African Americans and Vitamin D, Part 4: Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease is a disease of black people. It causes a usually fatal anemia and is marked by sickle-shaped red blood cells.

African Americans, Part 3: Vitamin D and Rickets

Rickets, a deforming, crippling bone disease of infants and young children, is a well-established vitamin D-deficiency disease. Children with adequate levels of vitamin D simply don't get rickets.

Sunlight, vitamin D and African Americans, Part 2

In my previous post, I discussed reasons to believe that the generally poor health of African Americans is due in large part to vitamin deficiency.

Critical vitamin D deficiency and critically poor health among African Americans: Part 1

Why do African Americans suffer more from heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes and other degenerative diseases than white Americans?  One reason is that vitamin D deficiency is far more common in blacks. 

Sunlight, vitamin D, flu and schizophrenia.

This is my third post concerning the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and brain disorders.  Now I make the case that a major cause of schizophrenia is lack of sunlight or other source of vitamin D.

Sunlight, vitamin D, sexual performance and fertility

Can sunlight or vitamin D make a difference in sexual behavior or fertility? That is a difficult question, but there are indications that sunlight exposure or vitamin D intake do influence hormones, fertility and sexual behavior. Now that I have your undivided attention, let’s examine the evidence.

More on vitamin D and brain disorders

Vitamin D research continues to amaze. The evidence mounts that vitamin D deficiency has a profound negative influence on the function of the brain. Previously, I wrote of the compelling evidence that autism is a vitamin D deficiency disease and also presented research indicative of a role of vitamin D in reducing depression, elevating mood and increasing happiness. Now, we see that in a small study of seventeen psychiatric patients, two were borderline deficient and 15 were deficient. Seven had such low levels that blood tests could not produce an accurate reading. Encouragingly, the researchers recommended that mental-health inpatients receive adequate exposure to sunlight.

Vitamin D, sunlight, septicemia (blood poisoning) and hospital deaths: Is there a relationship?

Septicemia is a severe and often deadly blood infection and is a form of sepsis, defined as an infection of tissues by bacteria. Noxious bacteria do considerable damage by attacking tissue, including blood. However, when they die or when their cell walls rupture, they release a poison (endotoxin), which may do more harm than the bacterial attack itself. Sunlight and vitamin D may have a protective affect on preventing this often-deadly disease.

Is Autism a Vitamin D-Deficiency Disorder?

Autism is increasing exponentially and is related to vitamin D deficiency.

As I have pointed out in my book, both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities.

Vitamin D may help your economic depression and decrease your financial aches and pains this winter.

If you are feeling some depression due to the economic downturn and are experiencing the aches and pains of a shrinking portfolio, your answer may lie in taking a vacation to the tropics or at least increasing your intake of vitamin D. No, it won't improve your bottom line, but it could help you to feel dramatically better while you suffer through the economic doldrums.

Heart failure predicts an increased bone fracture rate. Is vitamin D deficiency the reason for the correlation?

A recent and interesting medical paper says that researchers have "discovered" that persons diagnosed with heart failure in hospital emergency departments have a dramatically increased risk of bone fractures.

Don't be deceived! Adequate Vitamin D DOES profoundly reduce the risk of breast cancer!

In spite of numerous studies that demonstrate a profound reduction in risk of cancer with increased sunlight exposure and vitamin D supplementation, a new study appears to completely contradict the idea that vitamin D has anti-cancer properties, especially for breast cancer.

Stop chronic aches and pains with vitamin D

As the winter approaches, aches and pains increase as vitamin D levels, already too low in most people, begin to plummet. Bringing vitamin D levels up can often alleviate or eliminate the pain.

Breast-cancer prevention and treatment with vitamin D and sunlight: Is the most potent anti-cancer agent being ignored?

There has been a concerted effort by the "Powers of Darkness" to ensure that children avoid that most natural of childhood activities playing outdoors in the sun. Yet, it is known that girls who have the greatest exposure to sunlight during the ages of 10-19 have a 35% decreased risk of cancer as adults when compared to those who had the least exposure.

Weight loss surgery, vitamin D and bone loss

The obesity pandemic, brought about by horrendous eating patterns, lack of exercise and (in my opinion) lack of sunlight and vitamin D has spawned millions of nutritionally bizarre diet programs and numerous strange medical procedures.