WASHINGTON 鈥� There’s a major link between low levels of vitamin D and aggressive prostate cancer in men, .
Aggressive prostate cancer is the kind that’s more likely to spread.
Northwestern Medicine researchers say their findings are important because determining whether men have low vitamin D levels might help them decide whether just to monitor the cancer or have surgery to remove their prostates immediately.
Because low vitamin D levels also are linked to other aggressive diseases and poor bone health, researchers recommend all men get their vitamin D blood levels checked.
You might be vulnerable having to having low levels of vitamin D from having dark skin, a poor diet or lack of sun.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to have normal levels when you work in an office every day,” lead investigator Dr. Adam Murphy said in a news release. “And because of our long winter,鈥� he added,聽referring to the Chicago area.
Murphy is an assistant professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine urologist.
If you’re taking supplements to achieve adequate vitamin D levels, the Institute of Medicine recommends 600 international units of vitamin D per day. Murphy recommends people in areas experiencing long winters with low sunlight levels get 1,000 to 2,000 international units per day.
