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The global distribution of many types of cancer is strongly related to latitude. The farther you are from the equator, the higher the rate of disease. The mor

The global distribution of many types of cancer is strongly related to latitude. The farther you are from the equator, the higher the rate of disease. The more sun you get, the less cancer. It's hard not to infer that sun exposure and thus synthesis of vitamin D helps prevent many cancers. We've been urged to avoid sun exposure because it can cause skin cancer. But those cancers are squamous and basal cell carcinomas. Those carcinomas are easily cured, and don't usually kill you. Melanoma, the truly deadly skin cancer, is more prevalent in populations with less sun exposure. There are lots of interesting graphs on Jeff Bowles' site [^1]. He's an absolute fan of vitamin D. ^1:https://jefftbowles.com/vitamin-d3-deficiency-causes-most-human-disease/ https://jefftbowles.com/vitamin-d3-deficiency-causes-most-hu...

sateesh 3y ago
Can you be specific about what kind of Cancer incidences is related to the latitude ? In general I don't think there is a good correlation between Cancer incidences and latitude, for example India gets plenty of sunshine year around, but Cancer incidences are no less.
konschubert 3y ago
The statistics you are presenting - have they been corrected for life expectancy? Do they also hold across North America , eg comparing Florida to Boston?
subsubzero 3y ago
As someone who spends alot of time outside(as much as I can while still working!) and also takes 5000iu of vitamin D, I just wanted to say there is moderation in everything. Getting too much sun can lead to skin cancer so make sure you are wearing sunscreen.
- dagw 3y ago
  I worked on a project related to modelling UV and skin cancer rates. And what I learnt there is that that big thing that causes skin cancer isn't so much total UV exposure over a year, but a sudden switch for long periods of no sun to a period of intense sun. You see this especially in the Nordic countries where it isn't uncommon to go from 4 month of getting essentially no sun to 10 days of spending 10 hours a day in a bathing suit on a beach in Thailand or Bali.
  - andrekandre 3y ago
    > essentially no sun to 10 days of spending 10 hours a day in a bathing suit on a beach in Thailand or Bali. is that because there isn't enough melanin built up in the skin to prevent damage?
bitL 3y ago
Taking D3 without K2 gives you atherosclerosis though so it's wise to combine the two.
- bilsbie 3y ago
  And magnesium!
  - millzlane 3y ago
    That's true. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480918/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480918/
    - rollinghills 3y ago
      [flagged]
- BobbyJo 3y ago
  Source?
  - bitL 3y ago
    https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k...
travisporter 3y ago
FYI the tuberculosis chart is actually type 1 diabetes
francisofascii 3y ago
Also sunlight during the day helps with melatonin synthesis at night, leading to better sleep, leading to less cancer.
- mrtweetyhack 3y ago
  [dead]
vharuck 3y ago
>Melanoma, the truly deadly skin cancer, is more prevalent in populations with less sun exposure. It's vastly more prevalent in white people versus other skin colors. Even at the same latitude. Even in the same country. The incidence rate of malignant melanoma in the US is about 30 times higher for Whites than Blacks. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html If somebody is White, getting more sun won't prevent melanoma; it does the opposite. Sunlight and vitamin D are still good things, so White people should spend time outside with sunscreen or protective clothing.
- dcow 3y ago
  Neither of you are advocating for getting sun burn. That's bad. I think what GP is saying is that the overcorrection in worrying about skin cancer where people act like they're straight up allergic to the sun and avoid it, is actually harmful. I've seen this attitude in white people so I know what GP is referring to.

sateesh 3y ago

Can you be specific about what kind of Cancer incidences is related to the latitude ? In general I don't think there is a good correlation between Cancer incidences and latitude, for example India gets plenty of sunshine year around, but Cancer incidences are no less.

konschubert 3y ago

The statistics you are presenting - have they been corrected for life expectancy? Do they also hold across North America , eg comparing Florida to Boston?

subsubzero 3y ago

As someone who spends alot of time outside(as much as I can while still working!) and also takes 5000iu of vitamin D, I just wanted to say there is moderation in everything. Getting too much sun can lead to skin cancer so make sure you are wearing sunscreen.

dagw 3y ago
I worked on a project related to modelling UV and skin cancer rates. And what I learnt there is that that big thing that causes skin cancer isn't so much total UV exposure over a year, but a sudden switch for long periods of no sun to a period of intense sun. You see this especially in the Nordic countries where it isn't uncommon to go from 4 month of getting essentially no sun to 10 days of spending 10 hours a day in a bathing suit on a beach in Thailand or Bali.
- andrekandre 3y ago
  > essentially no sun to 10 days of spending 10 hours a day in a bathing suit on a beach in Thailand or Bali. is that because there isn't enough melanin built up in the skin to prevent damage?

bitL 3y ago

Taking D3 without K2 gives you atherosclerosis though so it's wise to combine the two.

bilsbie 3y ago
And magnesium!
- millzlane 3y ago
  That's true. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480918/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29480918/
  - rollinghills 3y ago
    [flagged]
BobbyJo 3y ago
Source?
- bitL 3y ago
  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k...

travisporter 3y ago

FYI the tuberculosis chart is actually type 1 diabetes

francisofascii 3y ago

Also sunlight during the day helps with melatonin synthesis at night, leading to better sleep, leading to less cancer.

mrtweetyhack 3y ago
[dead]

vharuck 3y ago

>Melanoma, the truly deadly skin cancer, is more prevalent in populations with less sun exposure. It's vastly more prevalent in white people versus other skin colors. Even at the same latitude. Even in the same country. The incidence rate of malignant melanoma in the US is about 30 times higher for Whites than Blacks. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/melan.html If somebody is White, getting more sun won't prevent melanoma; it does the opposite. Sunlight and vitamin D are still good things, so White people should spend time outside with sunscreen or protective clothing.

dcow 3y ago
Neither of you are advocating for getting sun burn. That's bad. I think what GP is saying is that the overcorrection in worrying about skin cancer where people act like they're straight up allergic to the sun and avoid it, is actually harmful. I've seen this attitude in white people so I know what GP is referring to.