Link Between High Vitamin D Levels And Lower Risk Of Colorectal Cancer
A large European study published on bmj.com today reports that high blood levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of colon cancer. The risk dropped by as much as 40 percent in people with the highest levels compared with those in the lowest.
Colorectal cancer is the combination of colon and rectal cancer cases. The link between vitamin D and colorectal cancer had already been highlighted in a number of earlier studies. But with limited information from European populations, the evidence has been uncertain.
In order to find out more, researchers from across Europe began to study the association between circulating vitamin D concentration as well as dietary intakes of vitamin D and calcium with colorectal cancer risk in Western European populations.
Results are based on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer Study (EPIC). It is a study that included over 520,000 subjects from ten Western European countries.
All participants completed detailed dietary and lifestyle questionnaires, between 1992 and 1998. Blood samples were collected. The subjects were then monitored for several years. During follow-up, 1,248 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed and these were matched to 1,248 healthy controls.
Findings indicated that participants with the highest levels of blood vitamin D concentration had a nearly 40 percent decrease in colorectal cancer risk when compared to those with the lowest levels. Read more
Lowering Costs, Waiting Times For Colonoscopies
Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, leading to over 50,000 fatalities every year. But it can be prevented with early screening using a procedure called a colonoscopy. Now researchers from North Carolina State University, Mayo Clinic and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass) have created a tool to help colonoscopy facilities operate more efficiently, ultimately lowering costs and leading to shorter waiting times for patients.
The researchers have created a computer model that “helps people who manage colonoscopy facilities, such as hospitals and clinics, find the best combination of physicians, staff, rooms and equipment needed to cater to the number of patients they can expect,” says Bjorn Berg, lead author of the paper outlining the new tool and a Ph.D. student in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at NC State. The model can also be used to determine the optimum number of patients a facility can see in any given day. Read more