20 TO 40

Vitamin D may lower breast cancer risk

Breast cancer patients with lower levels of vitamin D were far more likely to die and far more likely to have their cancer spread than women with normal levels, Canadian researchers reported at an upcoming meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Women deficient in the “sunshine vitamin” when they were diagnosed with breast cancer were 94 per cent more likely to have their cancer spread and were 73 per cent more likely to die than women with adequate vitamin D levels. More than three-quarters of women with breast cancer had a vitamin D deficiency, reported the researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

40 AND ABOVE

Environmental factors can trigger arthritis

A number of environmental exposures, including trauma, are associated with the onset of inflammatory arthritis in patients with psoriasis, findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases indicate. Psoriatic arthritis is “inflammatory arthritis on a background of pre-existing or future development of psoriasis,” reported researchers from University of Manchester, UK. Usually arthritis post-dates, often by several years, the onset of psoriasis, they note. So for patients with psoriasis, it is would be helpful to know what factors increase their risk of developing this condition.