Can Vitamins Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer?
by GALTime.com Staff
The answer appears to be yes, according to a new study. Vitamins and calcium supplements may reduce your risk of breast cancer.
"It is not an immediate effect. You don't take a vitamin today and your breast cancer risk is reduced tomorrow," said Jaime Matta, Ph.D., professor in the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. "However, we did see a long-term effect in terms of breast cancer reduction."
The study included 268 women with breast cancer and 457 healthy women. Women were more likely to have breast cancer if they were older, had a family history of the disease, didn't breastfeed and had a lower DNA repair capacity.
The results: vitamin supplements appeared to reduce breast cancer risk by about 30 percent. Calcium supplements by 40 percent. (Researchers did note note that calcium supplements weren't as protective after applying certain controls, but the link between vitamins and breast cancer reduction remained.)
Researchers say early findings suggest calcium supplements enhance DNA repair capacity. "When the DNA is not repaired, it leads to mutation that leads to cancer," said Matta.
"We're not talking about mega doses of these vitamins and calcium supplements, so this is definitely one way to reduce risk," said Matta.
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