Many Canadians will instantly recognise the situation at the root of today’s post. So Canadians may be justifiably happier than most to hear that researchers have found vitamin D can protect against melanoma…
Not Snowbirds: Running, in bright sun, shorts and t-shirts. No hats, under the age of 65.
Folks in the know call Canadians who go south for the winter – to Florida, Arizona or some other, cozier clime – ‘Snowbirds’. Legend is, they got the nickname after Canadian folk songstress Anne Murray dazzled the world with her toasty 1970 hit, Snowbird. It metaphorically associates long-term Canadian vacationers with migrating birds.
But with that well-established connection comes another – one neither so cute or harmless. I refer to the danger of melanoma to pasty-white Canadian retirees who started spending as much as 6 months a year in the subtropics avoiding traditional Canadian winter pursuits such as shovelling snow and ‘stunt driving’ on icy roads.
A definite beneficial connection
Researchers in Finland, where folks are, if anything, even pastier than Canadians, have good news. A new study reveals that folks who use vitamin supplements regularly have a significantly lower risk of melanoma than those who either use D supplements occasionally or not at all.
“Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk for melanoma among regular users was considerably reduced, more than halved, compared to non-users,” an abstract of the study report confirms.
However, the ‘D connection’ is apparantly specific to melanoma, and does not extend to other skin cancers or associated skin conditions: “there was no statistically significant association between the use of vitamin D and the severity of photoaging, facial photoaging, actinic keratoses, nevus count, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.”
Nevertheless…
Affirmation of the beneficial connection between D and melanoma is cheered by many. Ask any Canadian who spends from 2 to 6 months in the south if they, a family member or a friend has had a melanoma diagnosis. Most will say they know at least one. And don’t think these folks haven’t been anecdotally aware of the connection between too much sun and melanoma for some time, already.
There’s a sardonic joke that you can always tell the Snowbirds in any Florida crowd: They’re the ones with the long-sleeved shirts, long-legged trousers and widest-brimmed hats.
But supporting facts have been woefully lacking.
More research to be done
Now, the connection has been officially established and it’s time, researchers say, for further research on just how much D you need to take to get the protection we all seek against melanoma.
Meanwhile, physicians and nutritionists say it’s a good idea for those making their permanent homes in Canadian or higher latitudes to take at least 2,000 international units of D a day. That ought to cover the requirements for taking advantage the vitamin’s other, better-proven health benefits and provide at least some protection against melanoma.
It’s interesting to note that previous studies have also showed a definite connection between less-aggressive forms of melanoma and vitamin D.
“These earlier studies back our new findings from the North Savo region here in Finland. However, the question about the optimal dose of oral vitamin D in order to for it to have beneficial effects remains to be answered. Until we know more, national intake recommendations should be followed,” Professor of Dermatology and Allergology, Ilkka Harvima, of the University of Eastern Finland asserts.
My take
There are few more-aggressive forms of cancer than melanoma. And few with worse survivability rates, even when they are caught relatively early. I’m all for any new information that helps us beat this scourge of our migratory elders…
~ Maggie J.