Calcium and Vitamin D Show Promise for Colorectal Health
Lee Swanson Research Update
Supplements of calcium and vitamin D may promote the health of the cells in the colon and rectum, offering potential protection from tumor development, a recent study shows.
The mineral-vitamin combination was found to normalize the health of cells in the colon and rectum, according to findings published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Researchers from Emory University, the University of Minnesota, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health conducted a pilot, randomized, double-blend, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 92 men and women with a history of benign colorectal tumors.
Led by Veronika Fedirko, the researchers randomly assigned the participants to receive daily calcium (2 g) and/or vitamin D3 supplements (800 IU), or placebo for six months.
Markers of the health of cells were found to increase by 201%, 242% and 25% in the calcium, vitamin D, and calcium plus vitamin D groups relative to the placebo, the researchers said.
"These results indicate that calcium and vitamin D promote colorectal epithelial cell differentiation and may ‘normalize’ the colorectal crypt proliferative zone in sporadic adenoma patients and support further investigation of calcium and vitamin D as chemopreventive agents against colorectal neoplasms," wrote Fedirko and her co-workers.
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 18:2933-2941, 2009