Exposure To Sunlight May Decrease Risk Of Advanced Breast Cancer By Half

ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2007) — A research team from the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine has found that increased exposure to sunlight — which increases levels of vitamin D in the body — may decrease the risk of advanced breast cancer.

In a study reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers found that women with high sun exposure had half the risk of developing advanced breast cancer, which is cancer that has spread beyond the breast, compared to women with low sun exposure. These findings were observed only for women with naturally light skin color. The study defined high sun exposure as having dark skin on the forehead, an area that is usually exposed to sunlight.

The scientists used a portable reflectometer to measure skin color on the underarm, an area that is usually not directly exposed to sunlight. Based on these measurements, they classified the women as having light, medium or dark natural skin color. Researchers then compared sun exposure between women with breast cancer and those without breast cancer. Sun exposure was measured as the difference in skin color between the underarm and the forehead.

In women with naturally light skin pigmentation, the group without breast cancer had significantly more sun exposure than the group with breast cancer. The fact that this difference occurred only in one group suggests that the effect was due to differences in vitamin D production — and wasn’t just because the women were sick and unable to go outdoors. In addition, the effect held true regardless of whether the cancer was diagnosed in the summer or in the winter. The difference was seen only in women with advanced disease, suggesting that vitamin D may be important in slowing the growth of breast cancer cells.

“We believe that sunlight helps to reduce women’s risk of breast cancer because the body manufactures the active form of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight,” said Esther John, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study from the Northern California Cancer Center. “It is possible that these effects were observed only among light- skinned women because sun exposure produces less vitamin D among women with naturally darker pigmentation.”

These new findings about breast cancer risk and sun exposure based on skin color measurements are consistent with previous research by John and colleagues that had shown that women who reported frequent sun exposure had a lower risk of developing breast cancer than women with infrequent sun exposure.

The researchers stressed that sunlight is not the only source of vitamin D, which can be obtained from multivitamins, fatty fish and fortified foods such as milk, certain cereals and fruit juices. Women should not try to reduce their risk of breast cancer by sunbathing because of the risks of sun-induced skin cancer, they said.

“If future studies continue to show reductions in breast cancer risk associated with sun exposure, increasing vitamin D intake from diet and supplements may be the safest solution to achieve adequate levels of vitamin D,” said Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., a co-researcher from the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

“Since many risk factors for breast cancer are not modifiable, our finding that a modifiable factor, vitamin D, may reduce risk is important,” said Sue Ingles, Ph.D., a co-researcher from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

The researchers compared 1,788 breast cancer patients in the San Francisco Bay area with a matched control group of 2,129 women who did not have breast cancer. They included non-Hispanic white,

Hispanic and African-American women, thus women with a wide range of natural skin color and a wide range of capacity to produce vitamin D in the body. Skin color is an important factor that determines how much vitamin D is produced in the body after sun exposure. Dark-skinned individuals produce up to 10 times less vitamin D than light-skinned individuals for the same amount of time spent in the sun. People with darker skin are also more likely to be vitamin D deficient than people with lighter skin.

The research team also included Wei Wang, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. The work was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and U.S. Department of Defense Medical Research Program.

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Note from Millie; I have never used sunscreen, make sure that I get daily sun exposure.  Although this article says that Vitamin D “can be obtained from multivitamins, fatty fish and fortified foods such as milk, certain cereals and fruit juices”, the best source is grass-fed beef, raw butter and free range chicken and eggs.  Grass fed beef has 10 times the Vitamin A, D and E than feed lot cattle.  Raw butter can be obtained here-  Raw Dairy.  I do not recommend drinking milk however.  Please see my articles on this subject at- Optimum Nutrition- The Truth about Dairy.

Eliminating Toxins Inside and Out!

It might make you mad to know that you are a guinea pig for the effects of carcinogen exposure and its effects on the human body. You would be shocked to learn how many known – and suspected – carcinogens are you are using in your home and on your body!

A five-year EPA study of over 600 households revealed that contaminant levels in the average home are up to 70 times higher than those found outdoors!

The Environmental Working Group, a public interest research and advocacy organization, has revealed that more than one third of all personal care products contain at least one known carcinogen. The average woman is exposed to approximately 126 such chemicals on a daily basis. In combination, these products are even worse; some “penetration enhancing” skin care products, for example, allow harmful ingredients to be drawn further into the body.

Penetration enhancers have been used to effectively deliver patch drugs deeper and faster through the skin and into the blood vessels. Although rarely added to cosmetics for the purpose of enhancing penetration, many ingredients used in cosmetics are found to have penetration-enhancing properties. The concern with penetration enhancers in cosmetics lies not in the toxicity of the enhancer itself but in the fact that the enhancers open the skin to greater absorption of carcinogens, toxins, and other harmful chemicals that the product may contain.

Scrolling down the list of brand after brand of shampoos, toothpastes, perfumes, shaving products, skin moisturizers, lipsticks and eye makeup, consumers might make some alarming discoveries about the ingredients in the products they use. For instance, a Dove cream facial cleanser was rated 9.2 out of 10 for harmful ingredients used, with 10 being of the highest health concern. The product was cited for areas of concern in cancer, unstudied ingredients, harmful impurities, allergies and penetration enhancers.

Even “trusted” brands are not necessarily trustworthy. Some of the most toxic brands are Ponds, Crest, Avon, Cornsilk, OPI, Estee Lauder, Coty, Liz Claiborne, Blistex, Crabtree and Evelyn, Clarins, Playtex (Baby Magic lotion), RoC, Charmin

(fragrance in toilet paper and wipes!), Alpha Hydrox, Johnson and Johnson (Act fluoride treatments, Ortho vaginal contraceptives), Nexxus, Revlon, Puma personal care products, Murad and Origins. Starting to get scared, ready to jump up and start reading labels of your moisturizers, toothpaste and make-up?

You can go to the website- Environmental Working Group – find the brand name, type of product or most toxic list and go from there.

Unfortunately, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) does not review or regulate most personal care products or household cleaners. Even many known or suspected carcinogens need not be listed on product labels due to “trade secret” protections and loopholes.

Consumer buying power can pressure companies to clean up their acts. Vote with your wallet for safer products, share information with friends and relatives.

This is a subject I have been researching for a long time. Here is a list of the cleanest personal care products I have found.

Makeup;

Jane Iredale – wonderful pressed powder and lipsticks, but expensive. Expensive packaging. Clean lipsticks that really stay put and have great colors are hard to find, these are the best I’ve ever found!

Everyday Minerals– Great powders, average packaging. GREAT prices!! And free samples, so you can try them. They let you order FIVE generous samples in different colors so you can find a match. I loved the three colors of powders and the blushes I tried.

http://www.valeriebeauty.com/index.php – wonderful mineral powders (my fave!) and she offers a great compact to carry loose powder in!

Evans Garden– ineffective cleansers and chalky powders, but GREAT moisturizers.

Burt’s Bees -has the best lip gloss with color and Lip Balm I’ve ever found.

Aubrey Organics has wonderful Rosa Mosqueta Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner. They are awesome for permed or colored hair. Their Rosa Mosqueta body lotion is the most luxurious and wonderful body lotion I have ever used!

Toms of Maine are wonderful non-toxic toothpastes.

UVNaturals is the only sunscreen I have found that I am willing to put on my skin! I can even wear it under makeup. recent medical research is indicating that certain sunscreen ingredients are in fact having a detrimental effect through cumulative use.

These ingredients can mimic oestrogen, create free radiate, or accelerate the production of free radicals in the body. The can also damage DNA within the cells.

Sunscreens are divided up into two groups: Chemical (toxic) and Physical (safe).

The Chemical sunscreens work by absorbing the UV radiation – this process creates extremely dangerous and active free radicals.

The Physical sunscreen work by reflecting the UV light.

Zinc and Titanium are classed as the only Physical sunscreens, in fact, Titanium only reflects 30% of UV light and ABSORBS 70%.  It functions more as a Chemical sunscreen rather than a Physical one. So it should not be grouped with Zinc at all.

Titanium also acts as a “photoactivator” meaning, that in the presence of light, it will activate (catalyse) free radical activity and production, including cancerous and precancerous activity.

So next time you see a natural sunscreen labeled “safe and natural for your Baby” have a close look at the ingredients.

When you go read the label on most of the personal care products that you are probably using, you will find parabens and phthalates. These chemicals have been definitively linked to breast cancer. Here are two excellent articles on the subject.

Think Before you Pink

Cosmetics, Parabens, and Breast Cancer

Here is a direct link to EWG’s page that will let you see what products are highest in toxic chemicals.

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