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Healthy Living: Vitamin D and breast cancer
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Cancer research is always ongoing, but is always in need of more funding. One way to raise money is by selling books and that is what Connie Bramer is doing.
She wrote a book chronicling her battle with breast cancer three-and-a-half years ago. She was 39.
"I put it all, at the urging of my friends, into a book, my memoir. The good, the bad, the ugly,” Bramer said. “Some of the proceeds go to help fund medical research for breast cancer."
Bramer has had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and a dozen surgeries. She's currently cancer-free, but she's the fourth generation in her family to have cancer and knows the importance of research.
One researcher, Jo Ellen Welsh, has been studying Vitamin D and cancer for 20 years.
"We do laboratory studies, animal studies and studied with human tissue," Welsh said.
The study involves how your Vitamin D levels reduce your risk of getting breast cancer as well as fighting it.
"We found is that Vitamin D is a very powerful growth inhibitor of breast cells, so if cells are exposed to Vitamin D, they stop growing," Welsh said.
Results show that Vitamin D is a good protective factor against developing breast cancer and could cut your risk by 30 percent.
Natural Vitamin D comes from the sun and most of us need 10 to 15 minutes a day. A blood test is required to check your levels and if you are low in Vitamin D, and your doctor can prescribe a prescription for it or you can take a supplement.
Some studies indicate taking Vitamin D with calcium may provide moderate protection from breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. The calcium can be taken in pill form or food.
Milk and dairy products are good sources of calcium.