Save Your Life with a Simple Lab Test, Low Vitamin D3, Breast Cancer, Tips, Prevention, Tips Cancer Awareness, Breast Cancer, Vitamin D And Cancer, Prevention Of Breast Cancer

The 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Test

It is a high priority to have your Vitamin D3 blood levels measured by your doctor.

Here’s how the test works: Here’s how the test works: Specifically, you need to ask your doctor to be tested for “25-hydroxyvitamin D” levels. Your doctor will draw a small amount of blood from your arm for testing (just like when you have your cholesterol tested). If your Vitamin D3 levels are low, you will likely be prescribed a prescription strength Vitamin D3 pill, supplying 50,000 IU once weekly, for a few weeks to a few months. You will then be retested several weeks after finishing your treatment to make sure your Vitamin D3 level is restored to normal. If your level is still low, you may be put on another round of prescription pills. After your levels are normal, you can maintain your levels with a daily dietary supplement pill and fortified-foods.

The Link

Of course, more research can and should be done, but why wait when your breasts and life may be saved? I first learned about Vitamin D3’s link to breast cancer two years ago while visiting a top US medical hospital where many of my nutrition studies are conducted. I was shocked to learn from the cancer center’s staff that nearly 100% of the women diagnosed at the clinic were “critically low” in Vitamin D3. The American Medical Association (AMA) strongly recommends that physicians test patients for Vitamin D3 deficiency. This great initiative was triggered by the discovery that 70 to 80% of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D3 [5]. Indisputably, most doctors have neglected basic nutritional care of patients due to a drug-focused mindset in the past. As noted, the promising news is that many doctors are finally opening their eyes to the healing powers of food and dietary supplements.

Deficient

Vitamin D3 is normally produced in our bodies by exposure to sunlight, or obtained from our diets in foods that contain Vitamin D3 like fortified-milk, some cereals, orange juice, oily fish (e.g., salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel), cod fish, shrimp, eggs, and dietary supplements. Due to our obsession with avoiding wrinkles, and concerns over skin cancer, most of us completely cover our skin with sunscreen and protective clothing year-round. We don’ get any type of sun exposure on a regular basis, so we don’ make enough Vitamin D3 in our skin. Combined with our deteriorating diets that are increasingly filled with poorer food containing little to no Vitamin D3, it is simple math. We don’t make enough in our skin, or eat enough in our diets, to lower our cancer risks. At my urging, most of my family members and friends have tested their Vitamin D3 levels by now. Their doctors were usually surprised or puzzled when they ask to be tested. However, when the test results often found “critically low” Vitamin D3 levels, the doctors started testing others. Many of the doctors have now tested their entire patient bases. Vitamin D3 testing is critical for everyone, so make sure you share this information with your doctor. You can help save lives.

What You Need

Working with your doctor, you need to take the amount that keeps your blood levels in the “30 to 60 ng/mL” range. The only way to determine the daily amount that you personally need is to have your Vitamin D3 levels measured regularly, and then adjust your daily dose up or down based on the test results. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) determines the recommended daily dietary allowances of vitamins and minerals for Americans. The IOM currently recommends 200 IU daily for women up to age 50, 400 IU for women 51-70, and 600 IU for women 71 and older. Many experts believe this is woefully inadequate based on breast cancer studies. The IOM is studying the new amount of Vitamin D3 to recommend. Working with your doctor, you can achieve a Vitamin D3 blood level of 50 ng/mL or higher by taking 4000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily. Alternately, you can consume 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day and spend about 12 minutes daily in the sun with 50% of your body exposed to reach a 50 ng/mL level. Remember, your doctor may want to prescribe 50,000 IU weekly to quickly restore normal levels before starting a daily maintenance regimen.

Research

Breast cancer researchers recently reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that 74% of breast cancer patients in their clinic were Vitamin D3 deficient [6]. Vitamin D3 supplementation in these patients, even at twice the current daily recommended amount (the 200 IU recommended by the IOM), was still too low to restore normal Vitamin D3 levels. The researchers state, "Although the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D in premenopausal women is only 200 IU daily, our study suggests that a dose of 400 IU daily is inadequate in breast cancer patients, even to maintain skeletal health, and is probably too low for meaningful anticancer effects." You can see precisely why you have to work closely with your doctor to determine the proper daily Vitamin D3 intake for you based on regularly repeated blood tests.

Beyond Cancer

Proper Vitamin D3 levels produce many benefits that extend well beyond breast tissues. Experts have connected Vitamin D3 depletion to bone problems, cancers (including colon, ovarian, lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancers), cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aches and pains in the muscles, joints, and back, weakness and fatigue, and several autoimmune conditions [7, 8]. Adequate calcium and Vitamin D3 throughout life, as part of a well--‐balanced diet, can reduce the risk of osteoporosis (bone thinning that can lead to hip fractures and other breaks). One doctor representing The Endocrine Society states, “he importance of vitamin D has certainly expanded beyond endocrinologists' interest in bone health.”Another Vitamin D3 expert sums up the importance of increased Vitamin D3 intake as "the most critical public health advance in 30 years. We can reduce diabetes, coronary artery disease and cancer. We can drive down the cost of health care in America." Testing your Vitamin D3 blood levels regularly with your doctor will also prevent you from overdoing it. Excessive Vitamin D3 blood levels can lead to depression, gastrointestinal problems, confusion, kidney problems, and frequent urination.

Get a Little Sun

Excessive sun exposure can increase risk of skin cancers, particularly malignant melanoma. Develop a plan with your doctor on how much weekly sun you should enjoy. Avoid exposure during peak hours (typically noon to 3 pm) each day because the rays are particularly intense during those hours. If you have a personal or family history of skin cancer, or pre-cancerous skin changes, then prescription pills, dietary supplements and fortified foods alone may be the best route to increase your Vitamin D3 levels. The president of the American Academy of Dermatology favors the food and supplement only approach. Are you ready to reduce your risk of breast cancer by simply eating enough Vitamin D3?

Fight Now.