Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Vitamin D a hot-ticket item; Pharmacy shelves picked clean since U.S. cancer study released

From the Sault (Ont.) Star:
Psst, need some vitamin D?

Consumers craving the so-called "sunshine drug" may have to find some clandestine sources after shelves across Sault Ste. Marie have been laid bare in the week since a United States study linked vitamin D to reduced risk for colorectal, breast and prostate cancer.

"We were done two days ago. We tried ordering more, but our wholesaler in Toronto has it on back order as well," said Manuel Dos Reis, pharmacist and proprietor of The Medicine Shoppe on Great Northern Road earlier this week.

Shoppers Drug Mart on Second Line West had also gone through its stock by Saturday, a day after results from the four-year study were publicized.

Researchers at Creighton University in Nebraska said of 1,024 women over 55 who completed the trial, those randomly assigned to take calcium and vitamin D and who had higher levels of both in their blood were 77 per cent less likely to develop cancer after the first year compared to those taking placebos or calcium alone. ...more

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