New Telegraph

Study links lack of sunlight, Vitamin D to colon cancer risk

Researchers at the University of California in San Diego, United States (U.S.) have found that boosting your vitamin D levels through exposure to sunlight could help reduce your risk of colon cancer. The team published its findings in the journal ‘BMC Public Health’. Colon cancer also called colorectal cancer is a cancer of the colon or rectum, located at the digestive tract’s lower end. Early cases can begin as non-cancerous polyps. These often have no symptoms but can be detected by screening.

Study co-author Raphael Cuomo said: “Differences in UVB [ultraviolet-B] light accounted for a large amount of the variation we saw in colorectal cancer rates, especially for people over age 45.” Although, he stressed that the data can’t prove cause-and-effect and is “still preliminary.

“It may be that older individuals, in particular, may reduce their risk of colorectal cancer by correcting deficiencies in vitamin D,” Cuomo said. Human skin manufactures vitamin D naturally upon contact with sunlight, and having an insufficient level of the nutrient has been tied to higher risk for a number of health issues. What about colon cancer? To find out, the San Diego team tracked data from 186 countries to assess possible associations between local exposures to UVB light from thesunand coloncancerrisk.

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