- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Vitamin D and calcium intake may reduce risk of breast cancer
Canada: A recent study has shown that microcalcifications could influence the association between vitamin D and calcium intake and risk factors for breast cancer. The results appeared in the journal Menopause on October 11, 2022.
The study was carried out by a research team led by Alisson Clemenceau, Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, to determine the potential role of vitamin D and calcium intakes in breast carcinogenesis. They explored the association between these two nutrients and three biomarkers of breast cancer risk: breast density, age-related lobular involution, and the presence of microcalcifications.
Microcalcifications are tiny deposits of calcium salts that can be detected by imaging. They can occur as scatterings throughout the mammary glands or as clusters. Microcalcifications can be an early breast cancer sign. It is possible to classify by radiography, based on radiology, how likely microcalcifications are to indicate cancer.
Microcalcifications could result from many benign processes in the breast, including duct ectasia, fibrocystic change, fibroadenomatoid, and fat necrosis. Papillomas and fibroadenomas can also become calcified. Sometimes typical structures, such as the small blood vessels or skin, can calcify. It can also develop in normal stroma or atrophic breast lobules.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in few foods like flesh of fatty fish such as trout, salmon, tuna, and mackerel, fish liver oils ,Beef liver, egg yolks, cheese and mushrooms.It is also synthesized endogenously when ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight strike the skin.
Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal bone mineralization and to prevent hypocalcemic tetany. Further it is needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts and helps protect older adults from osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to thin and brittle bones leading rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
The study included 82 premenopausal and 79 postmenopausal women with a breast cancer diagnosis. They completed a food frequency questionnaire to assess their vitamin D and calcium intake. Microcalcifications presence was determined using pathology reports. Age-related lobular involution and percent breast density was also evaluated. The associations between quartiles of vitamin D and calcium intakes and the biomarkers of breast cancer risk were assessed using Multivariate generalized linear models.
The study led to the following findings:
- Increasing quartiles of vitamin D intake were inversely associated with the presence of microcalcifications (fourth quartile [Q4] prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.55) and breast density (Q4-Q1 = -7.7%) in postmenopausal women and positively associated with age-related lobular involution in women with microcalcifications (Q4 PR = 1.62).
- Increasing quartiles of calcium intake were inversely associated with microcalcifications among all (Q4 PR = 0.44), premenopausal (Q4 PR = 0.37), and postmenopausal women (Q4 PR = 0.38).
- It was also inversely associated with breast density in women without microcalcifications (Q4-Q1 = -8.3%) but positively associated with breast density in women with microcalcifications (Q4-Q1 = 10.0%).
"The findings indicate that the association between calcium and vitamin D intakes and breast cancer risk factors could be influenced by the presence of microcalcifications," the researchers wrote.
Reference:
Clemenceau, Alisson PhD1,2; Chang, Sue-Ling MSc2,3; Hanna, Mirette MD, PhD2,3; Durocher, Francine PhD1,2; Diorio, Caroline PhD2,3. Association between vitamin D and calcium intakes, breast microcalcifications, breast tissue age-related lobular involution and breast density. Menopause: October 11, 2022 - Volume - Issue - 10.1097/GME.0000000000002070 doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002070
Dr Kartikeya Kohli is an Internal Medicine Consultant at Sitaram Bhartia Hospital in Delhi with super speciality training in Nephrology. He has worked with various eminent hospitals like Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Sir Gangaram Hospital. He holds an MBBS from Kasturba Medical College Manipal, DNB Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research and Business Development, Fellow DNB Nephrology, MRCP and ECFMG Certification. He has been closely associated with India Medical Association South Delhi Branch and Delhi Medical Association and has been organising continuing medical education programs on their behalf from time to time. Further he has been contributing medical articles for their newsletters as well. He is also associated with electronic media and TV for conduction and presentation of health programs. He has been associated with Medical Dialogues for last 3 years and contributing articles on regular basis.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751