Low Cloud Cover-Adjusted Ultraviolet B Irradiance Is Associated with High Incidence Rates of Leukemia: Study of 172 Countries.

There are 52,380 cases of leukemia and 24,090 deaths from it in the US annually. Its causes are unknown and no preventive strategies have been implemented. We hypothesized that leukemia is due mainly to vitamin D deficiency, which is due mainly to low solar ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance.

Hypertension in a Brazilian urban slum population.

Low- and middle-income countries account for the majority of hypertension disease burden. However, little is known about the distribution of this illness within subpopulations of these countries, particularly among those who live in urban informal settlements. A cross-sectional hypertension survey was conducted in 2003 among 5649 adult residents of a slum settlement in the city of Salvador, Brazil.

Cloud cover-adjusted ultraviolet B irradiance and pancreatic cancer incidence in 172 countries.

Background: Controversy exists regarding whether vitamin D deficiency could influence the etiology of pancreatic cancer. Several cohort studies have found that high serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations are associated with low risk of pancreatic cancer, while others have not.

Hypothesis: Low ultraviolet B irradiance is associated with high incidence of pancreatic cancer.

Could vitamin D sufficiency improve the survival of colorectal cancer patients?

Purpose: To determine whether a higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration at diagnosis is associated with longer survival of colorectal cancer patients.

Methods: A meta-analysis was performed of studies of the relationship between 25(OH)D and mortality of patients with colorectal cancer. A random-effects model was used to calculate a pooled hazards ratio.

Are low ultraviolet B and vitamin D associated with higher incidence of multiple myeloma?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an inverse association exists between latitude, solar ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance, and incidence rates of multiple myeloma.Methods Associations of latitude and UVB irradiance with age-standardized incidence rates of multiple myeloma were analyzed for 175 countries while controlling for sex-specific obesity prevalence, cigarette consumption, and alcohol consumption using multiple linear regression.Results Incidence rates of multiple myeloma were greater at higher latitudes (R(2) for latitude for males=0.

Meta-analysis of all-cause mortality according to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

We examined the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and all-cause mortality. We searched biomedical databases for articles that assessed 2 or more categories of 25(OH)D from January 1, 1966, to January 15, 2013. We identified 32 studies and pooled the data.

Prospective study of leptospirosis transmission in an urban slum community: role of poor environment in repeated exposures to the Leptospira agent.

Background: Leptospirosis has emerged as an urban health problem as slum settlements have rapidly spread worldwide and created conditions for rat-borne transmission. Prospective studies have not been performed to determine the disease burden, identify risk factors for infection and provide information needed to guide interventions in these marginalized communities.

Methodology/principal Findings: We enrolled and followed a cohort of 2,003 residents from a slum community in the city of Salvador, Brazil.

Meta-analysis of vitamin D sufficiency for improving survival of patients with breast cancer.

Background/aim: To determine whether higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at diagnosis is associated with longer survival of patients with breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: A meta-analysis was performed of five studies of the relationship between 25(OH)D and mortality from breast cancer. A pooled hazard ratio was calculated using a random-effects model.

What is the relationship between ultraviolet B and global incidence rates of colorectal cancer?

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ultraviolet B and global incidence of colorectal cancer, while controlling for relevant covariates. Linear regression was used to assess the relationship between latitude and incidence rates of colon cancer in 173 countries. Multiple linear regression was employed to investigate the relationship between ultraviolet B dose and colorectal cancer rates while controlling for per capita intake of energy from animal sources, per capita health expenditure, pigmentation, and life expectancy.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and breast cancer in the military: a case-control study utilizing pre-diagnostic serum.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to ascertain whether a relationship exists between pre-diagnostic serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and risk of breast cancer in young women.

Methods: About 600 incident cases of breast cancer were matched to 600 controls as part of a nested case-control study that utilized pre-diagnostic sera. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between serum 25(OH)D concentration and breast cancer risk, controlling for race and age.

Does the evidence for an inverse relationship between serum vitamin D status and breast cancer risk satisfy the Hill criteria?

A wide range of epidemiologic and laboratory studies combined provide compelling evidence of a protective role of vitamin D on risk of breast cancer. This review evaluates the scientific evidence for such a role in the context of the A.B.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and prevention of breast cancer: pooled analysis.

Background: Low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] have been associated with a high risk of breast cancer. Since publication of the most current meta-analysis of 25(OH)D and breast cancer risk, two new nested case-control studies have emerged.

Materials And Methods: A PubMed search for all case-control studies on risk of breast cancer by 25(OH)D concentration identified 11 eligible studies.

High serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is associated with a low incidence of stress fractures.

Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations are associated with hip fractures, but the dose-response relationship of serum 25(OH)D with risk of stress fractures in young women is unknown. This nested case-control study in a cohort of female Navy recruits was designed to determine whether those with low prediagnostic serum 25(OH)D concentrations had greater risk of stress fracture. Sera were drawn in 2002-2009 from 600 women who were diagnosed subsequently with stress fracture of the tibia or fibula and 600 matched controls who did not experience a stress fracture.

Ultraviolet B and incidence rates of leukemia worldwide.

Background: Recent research has suggested a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and risk of leukemia.

Purpose: Using data from the UN cancer database, GLOBOCAN, this study will determine whether a relationship exists for latitude and ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance with incidence rates of leukemia in 175 countries.

Methods: Multiple regression was used to analyze the independent association between UVB and age-adjusted incidence rates of leukemia in 139 countries in 2002.

Low ultraviolet B and increased risk of brain cancer: an ecological study of 175 countries.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether an inverse association exists between latitude, solar ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance, modeled 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and incidence rates of cancer of the brain.

Methods: Associations of latitude and UVB irradiance with age-standardized incidence rates of cancer of the brain were analyzed for 175 countries while controlling for proportion of population overweight, energy from animal sources, fish consumption, cigarette and alcohol consumption and per capita health expenditures, using multiple regression. Serum 25(OH)D levels were modeled for each country, and their association with brain cancer also was determined.

Ultraviolet B irradiance and vitamin D status are inversely associated with incidence rates of pancreatic cancer worldwide.

Objectives: To determine if an inverse association exits between latitude, ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance and incidence rates of pancreatic cancer worldwide.

Methods: Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the relationship and between UVB irradiance incidence rates of pancreatic cancer and while controlling for cigarette, alcohol and sugar consumption, and proportion overweight. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were estimated, and their association with incidence rates also was analyzed.

Ultraviolet B irradiance and incidence rates of bladder cancer in 174 countries.

Background: Although nearly half of bladder cancer cases are due to smoking, the cause of nearly half is unexplained.

Purpose: This study aims to determine whether an inverse association exists between ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance and incidence rates of bladder cancer worldwide.

Methods: This study used an ecologic approach.

Vitamin D for cancer prevention: global perspective.

Purpose: Higher serum levels of the main circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), are associated with substantially lower incidence rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, aggressive prostate and other cancers.

Methods: Epidemiological findings combined with newly discovered mechanisms suggest a new model of cancer etiology that accounts for these actions of 25(OH)D and calcium. Its seven phases are disjunction, initiation, natural selection, overgrowth, metastasis, involution, and transition (abbreviated DINOMIT).

Ecological studies of ultraviolet B, vitamin D and cancer since 2000.

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to summarize ecological studies of solar ultraviolet B (UVB), vitamin D and cancer since 2000.

Methods: The journal literature is surveyed and summarized.

Results: The ecological approach has been the primary tool used during the past two decades to extend the applicability of the UVB-vitamin D-cancer theory to include at least 18 types of cancer.

A brief history of vitamin d and cancer prevention.

Purpose: To review the history of vitamin D and its use in cancer prevention.

Methods: The literature on published studies of vitamin D and its role in human health was reviewed and summarized.

Results: The modern history of vitamin D began in the mid-1800s, when it was noticed that city children were more likely to have rickets than rural children.

Vitamin D and prevention of colorectal adenoma: a meta-analysis.

Background: Vitamin D status is associated inversely with risk of colorectal cancer, but the association with adenoma risk is less clear. This meta-analysis examined the overall relationship between circulating (plasma or serum) 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], vitamin D intake (dietary, supplemental, or total), and colorectal adenoma incidence in published studies.

Methods: A meta-analysis composed of 17 epidemiologic studies [1 cross-sectional, 9 case-control, and 7 cohort or nested case-control studies; 7 on 25(OH)D and 12 on vitamin D intake] published before December 2007 was done to examine the association between circulating 25(OH)D, vitamin D intake, and colorectal adenomas.

Impact of environment and social gradient on Leptospira infection in urban slums.

Background: Leptospirosis has become an urban health problem as slum settlements have expanded worldwide. Efforts to identify interventions for urban leptospirosis have been hampered by the lack of population-based information on Leptospira transmission determinants. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of Leptospira infection and identify risk factors for infection in the urban slum setting.