Vitamin Associated with Pancreatic Health

By CP Staff

A new study examined the relationship between intake of a specific vitamin and the risk for developing pancreatic cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 72 people will develop pancreatic cancer during their lifetime. The most recent data indicates that there were 42,470 new cases and 35,240 deaths from pancreatic cancer in 2009.

In this new study, investigators evaluated intake of folic acid in 51,988 male and 57,187 female subjects between the ages of 55 and 74 years old. The subjects completed a food-frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study and were then followed for 6.5-8 years to evaluate the incidence of pancreatic cancer.

During the study, 162 men and 104 women developed pancreatic cancer. The results showed that the female subjects with the highest intake of folic acid had a significant decrease in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to the women with the lowest folic acid intake. In fact, there was a 53 percent reduction in the risk of pancreatic cancer in the women with the highest folic acid intake. The study did not find an association between folic acid intake and the incidence of pancreatic cancer among the men in the study.

The researchers concluded, “These findings support an association between higher food and total folate intakes and decreased risk of pancreatic cancer in women but not in men.”

Reference:

Oaks BM, Dodd KW, Meinhold CL, Jiao L, Church TR, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ. Folate intake, post-folic acid grain fortification, and pancreatic cancer risk in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Feb;91(2):449-55.

Active MTHF, a naturally occurring, biologically active form of reduced folate that is nearly 7 times more bioavailable than folic acid, is available here.