Also colon cancer....
http://www.lef.org/LEFCMS/aspx/PrintVersionMagic.aspx?CmsID=112663Calcium.
A wealth of evidence supports calcium’s role in colon cancer prevention. Dr. Harold Newmark, a Rutgers University-based authority on cancer prevention, has called on the FDA to require the addition of calcium and vitamin D to all cereal-grain products. In a recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Newmark wrote that the addition of these two nutrients could reduce colon cancer deaths by 20%, saving about 11,000 American lives and over $1 billion in US health care costs annually.19 Newmark also noted that the addition of vitamin D and calcium to cereal-grain products would likely reduce the incidence of osteoporotic fractures by 20%.19
The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended calcium supplementation for the primary or secondary prevention of colon adenomas.20 Harvard School of Public Health researchers have noted that higher total calcium intake is associated with a 27-42% decreased rate of cancer of the distal colon.21 Calcium in amounts of more than 700 mg daily appeared to offer minimal benefit in further risk reduction, according to the Harvard scientists.21 Calcium supplementation could reduce the number of colon cancer deaths by 16,000 annually, reports the American Cancer Society.
Evidence also suggests that calcium confers the most protection against the advanced polyps that are most strongly associated with invasive colorectal cancer. In the Calcium Polyp Prevention Study, researchers analyzed data from 930 patients (with an average age of 61) who had recently had a colorectal adenoma removed. The subjects took either a 1200-mg daily calcium supplement or placebo, then had follow-up colonoscopies at one and four years after starting supplementation.22 Calcium supplementation yielded an 18% lower risk of hyperplastic polyps and an 11% lower risk of tubular adenoma. Most significant, however, was a 35% reduction in histologically advanced neoplasms, an advanced form of colorectal lesion.22 The protective effect of calcium supplements was most pronounced among people with a high dietary intake of fiber and a low intake of fat.24 Calcium is thought to protect colon cells by precipitating fatty acids and bile acids that are potentially toxic to the colorectal epithelium.23
Vitamin D.
While most experts acknowledge that calcium alone is chemopreventive against colon cancer, biochemical and biological evidence in cell culture systems suggests that exposure to calcium and vitamin D together may confer even more protection, reducing the tumor-forming properties of colon cancer cells.23
In late 2003, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published groundbreaking research on vitamin D’s role in preventing colon cancer. In this study, researchers concluded that calcium and vitamin D work together to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Their four-year study followed 803 patients with a history of surgically removed colon adenoma polyps. Subjects who took 1200 mg of elemental calcium daily experienced a 31% occurrence of polyps compared to a 38% occurrence in the placebo group.24
Most revealingly, calcium supplements helped to prevent polyps only among participants with high levels of vitamin D levels in their bodies. Additionally, vitamin D levels were linked to reduced polyp recurrence only among those subjects who took calcium supplements. These findings strongly suggest that vitamin D and calcium have a synergistic anti-cancer effect in the bowel and may be far less effective when not used in combination.24
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