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Dr. Cedric Garland shares if a vitamin D deficiency puts women at a greater risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Dr. Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H., F.A.C.E.:
The best way is to do a test of the vitamin D in the blood, and that can be done in conjunction with the doctor or a dietician. A few drops of blood are put on a little blotter that’s sent to a laboratory, and the laboratory returns a number, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D level. That varies in most people from anywhere from zero to 50 nanograms per milliliter, and if it’s at the low end, then the person works with the doctor or this dietician and comes up with a plan to increase the vitamin D level. And it may be from food, may be from supplements, may be from a little more exposure to the sun.
Sun won’t work for that if the person has a photosensitivity disease, and these are usually rare diseases. One of them is xeroderma pigmentosum, or is taking a medicine that causes photosensitivity such as tetracycline. But otherwise usually it’s a mixture of things: a little bit of sun, little bit of vitamin D from food, little bit from supplements, and then a retesting of the blood to see if the vitamin D level has climbed to a safe level.
About Dr. Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H., F.A.C.E.:
Dr. Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H., F.A.C.E., is adjunct professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests include, epidemiology of breast cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, melanoma, multiple sclerosis and ovarian cancer.
Visit Dr. Cedric Garland at the University of California, San Diego