In the News

By David Gutierrez There may be a relationship between the process that causes the body to tan and its defenses against skin cancer, according to a study conducted by scientists from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in “Cell.” Tanning has actually been found to prevent cancer tumors.… continue reading

SIRI AGRELL Do you put on sunscreen if the curtains are open? Think tanning beds are for sorority girls? Live in Vancouver? Well, it might be time to get a little more natural light in your life as researchers suggest that the vitamin D produced by sun exposure has a number of profound health benefits.… continue reading

Talk about a rock and a hard place. Doctors have been telling you for years to make sure you put on sunscreen when you go outside during a brilliantly bright day, to ensure you don’t get skin cancer. But now a new study shows some exposure to the sun helps your body make Vitamin D – a substance that can potentially ward off a large number of other types of even more serious cancers.… continue reading

In light of emerging research on the benefits of vitamin D, the Canadian Cancer Society said Monday that Canadians could consider brief, unprotected exposure to the sun, increased dietary intake of the vitamin and the use of supplements. Over the past 18 months, evidence has emerged suggesting that vitamin D may reduce the risk for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other diseases such as multiple sclerosis.… continue reading

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT For decades, researchers have puzzled over why rich northern countries have cancer rates many times higher than those in developing countries — and many have laid the blame on dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry. But research into vitamin D is suggesting both a plausible answer to this medical puzzle and a heretical notion: that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren’t caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations.… continue reading