Today’s Headlines: Vitamin D and Breast Cancer by Dr. Mark Bishara, MD

Low Vitamin D Tied to Aging Problems: A new study has found that low vitamin D levels in people over 55 are associated with an inability to perform ordinary tasks of daily life. Dutch researchers studied two groups of older people – one of 725 men and women aged 55 to 65, and another of 1,237 older than 65 – to see if they could walk up or down a 15-step staircase, dress and undress, stand from a sitting position, cut their toenails, walk outside unaided for five minutes, and use their own or public transportation. Then they did blood tests for vitamin D levels. After controlling for factors including age, physical activity and chronic diseases, they found that in both groups, a vitamin D level below 20 nanograms per milliliter was associated with an increased number of disabilities compared with those with a normal level (above 30).
Why Breast Cancer Is More Likely to Kill Black Women: A diagnosis of breast cancer is more likely to lead to early death for black women than for white women, a disparity that’s mainly the result of having more health problems before cancer develops, new research shows. Of the black women on Medicare who were told they had breast cancer, 55.9% were still alive five years later. That compared with 68.8% of white women who were the same age, lived in the same area and were diagnosed in the same year, according to a study published in Wednesday’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. But the more that white women had in common with black women, the smaller the discrepancy became.
This news is brought to you courtesy for Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Med Spa
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