Sunscreen, Cancer and You: Retinyl Palmitate (vitamin A) and Vitamin D Deficiency

Retinyl Palmitate (vitamin A)

            A more recent ingredient being added to select sunscreens is retinyl palmitate. Retinyl palmitate is a form of vitamin A commonly used in cosmetic products to reduce wrinkles and fine lines by acting as an antioxidant that slows skin aging.

The problem with retinyl palmitate, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), is that there is scientific evidence that illustrates that this form of vitamin A, when applied to the skin in the presence of sunlight, may speed the development of skin tumors and, thus, skin cancer.

The evidence EWG refers to is a study conducted by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in 2009. This study is, however, under review and will not be completed until next year.

So should we avoid retinyl palmitate?

As the FDA is still reviewing the research concerning its safety, it might be vigilant to avoid retinyl palmitate in sunscreen until we know more about its possible consequences. This should not be hard to do. According to EWG’s analysis of sunscreens, only 44% of sunscreens sold on American shelves, and by extension Canadian shelves, contain this ingredient.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Sunscreen

Although, according to the latest survey by Statistics Canada, 90% of Canadians have more than adequate amount of vitamin D to provide optimal bone health, two-thirds of Canadians (67%) are below the recommended levels of vitamin D that is associated with a greater risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer and adenomas.

One of the best sources of vitamin D is sun exposure. Given our lengthy Canadian winters and our culture of working/playing indoors, Canadians simply do not get enough sun exposure to benefit from its vitamin D source.

Sunscreen, as good as it may be at blocking harmful UV rays, also acts as a vitamin D barrier. So on one hand sunscreen may protect us from skin cancer, but on the other hand it may contribute to other cancer risks.

So what should we do?

Vitamin D deficiency is a comprehensive topic that requires some time to discuss. If you are concerned about vitamin D deficiency, please consult your general practitioner.

 It terms of sun safety, even if sunscreen may impact our levels of vitamin D, sunscreen remains a strongly recommended secondary measure of sun protection. But remember, primary prevention remains staying in the shade, avoiding the sun during peak hours or remaining covered while outdoors.

Now lets go out and have some fun in the sun!

Environmental Working Group Sunscreen Guide

If you would like more information regarding sunscreen safety, please refer to the Environmental Working Groups Sunscreen Guide. The guide provides some useful quick tips as well as a comprehensive rating system of many available sunscreens. It also provides a search feature, which allows you to search for your sunscreen rating.

The Guide can be found here:

http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Sources of Information

Canadian Cancer Society. (March, 2010). Sunscreen and cancer. Accessed on June 18th,

2010 at http://bit.ly/dqgNog

Environmental Working Group. (2010). EWG’s 2010 sunscreen guide. Accessed on June

15th, 2010 at http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Gavura, Scott. (June, 2010). The great sunscreen cover up. Science-Based Medicine.

Accessed on June 18th, 2010 at http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=5541

Statistics Canada. (2009). Vitamin D status of Canadians as measured in the 2007 to

2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Accessed on June 30^th, 2010 at http://bit.ly/aAkj2e

Drop everything and fight cancers below the waist

Join Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation's Underwear Affair® presented by Mark’s and help uncover the cure for underfunded below-the-waist cancers like prostate, ovarian, and colorectal. On September 11, 2010, run the competitive 10K or walk the fun 5K and show Ottawa that there’s absolutely no shame in bringing a little awareness to down there-ness.

The fun continues even after you cross the Finish Line with the EXPOsed After Party! Grab a well deserved drink, strut your stuff in the legendary costume contest, and dance the night away with your fellow participants!

It’s time to hit below-the waist cancers where it hurts. Register today!

Picture Slideshow: Do It For Dad

 

VIP Celebrity Team Campaign
 Erik Gudbranson

And they're off.... over 1,700 participants laced up in the 2010 Altera Do It For Dad!

Honourary Chair and participant of the Alterna Do It For Dad

Mr. Allan Rock

A complete slideshow of event pictures is available here

 

Congratulations – together we raised more than $354,672 for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation at the 12th annual Alterna Do It For Dad!

Last chance to drop off your bras!

Hurry there only a few days left. Due to popular request, the campaign extended the date for you to drop off your new and gently used bras to any Browns Cleaners location in Ottawa. Visit www.ottawacancer.ca for a full list of drop off locations. The Bras For A Cause Campaign is officially coming to a close this Friday July 16.

When the campaign wraps up this Friday, Browns will then triage and wash the bras, and deliver them to a number of local organizations including women’s shelters and the Salvation Army. All funds raised benefit the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation in support of research, treatment and education for all women’s cancers.

Thousands of bras have been collected in the campaign, which began on June 7th.  In exchange for every bra donated our sponsors are donating $5 to the Cancer Foundation.  Local residents have until July 16 to donate their bra to the campaign.  Since its inception, the Bras For A Cause Campaign has generated more than 14,000 bras and over $50,000 for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.


Below are just a few highlights from the Celebrity Bra competition. Thank you everyone for voting and 'supporting' this great cause! Be sure to check out the full campaign photo album. And have a look to see which bra was the winner!

    /A\ Morning's Lianne "Peek-A-Boob"
                                        

/A\ Morning's Angie "Boo-Bees"

Cardel Homes "Really Well-Built"

St. Laurent Shopping Centre "Lady Ta-Ta"

Keeping nourished during treatment

If you have cancer, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to maintain your nutritional health. It is well established that patients who are well-nourished have an improved quality of life, are better able to tolerate treatment and have shorter hospital stays. Malnourished patients do far worse: suffering with more severe and frequent treatment-related side effects, have a poorer quality of life, are more susceptible to infection and illness, and have decreased survival times.

According to the National Cancer Institute in the U.S., for every hundred people that die of cancer, twenty to forty of them literally starve to death.

Before a patient is even diagnosed, appetite may be affected, weight loss may occur and nutritional deficiencies may be present. Unfortunately, significant weight loss at the time of diagnosis is associated with decreased survival and reduced response to surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Then to make matters worse, treatment-related side effects can sap vital nutrients from the body and/or leave the patient with little appetite or desire to eat. These side effects include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, altered taste and smell, mouth sores, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, constipation, pain and depression.

Eventually many malnourished patients advance to a condition known as cachexia. This is a progressive wasting syndrome where the patient loses significant body weight, fat and muscle, and becomes weaker and weaker. Successful treatment of cachexia is difficult, so preventing it in the first place through nutritional monitoring and intervention is critical.

Since nutritional well-being is so critical to treatment, early screening of nutritional issues and implementation of nutritional therapies are essential to the health of the individual with cancer.

Unfortunately, nutritional therapies are often initiated as part of palliative care, rather than as supportive care during treatment. In patients with advanced cancer, nutritional therapy is modest, with a focus on reducing the risk of infection, improving quality of life, and providing symptom relief.

In patients who have been recently diagnosed, are undergoing active treatment or are recovering from cancer treatment, the goals of nutritional therapy include: to maintain or improve nutritional status, to restore deficient nutrients, to fight the inflammation in the body, to maintain or increase weight, to boost the immune system, to help fight fatigue, to reduce nutrition-related side effects and complications, and to maximize quality of life.

It is imperative that people understand the importance of nutritional health and its impact on cancer.

• Eat as healthy as you can during treatment. If you can’t eat or are having trouble with certain foods, find substitutes to ensure your protein and caloric needs are being met. Eggs are an easy source of protein and are easy to digest. Protein shakes are also an excellent choice for those with cancer. A high quality whey protein, mixed with some yogurt or antioxidant-rich fruit, will provide a good nutrition boost.

• Monitor your weight and energy levels. If you are losing weight during cancer, it is not a good thing.

• Get professional help if necessary– don’t accept your fatigue and weight loss as just part of the disease. Find out if everything is being done to maintain and support your nutritional needs. The earlier that problems are identified and nutritional therapies implemented, the greater the chance of improving outcomes.

Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention

Most people are aware that Vitamin D is the ‘sunshine vitamin’, and we make this critical vitamin after exposure to the sun.  However, even in the summer, 66-68% of Canadians do not have sufficient levels of Vitamin D.

Common sense would tell us that our levels drop in the fall, when our exposure to the sun is limited.  And drop they do, quite dramatically.  Several studies suggest that approximately 95% of Canadians lack adequate vitamin D in the fall.  That’s an astounding number and should make everyone realize how important it is to be taking their daily vitamin D supplement, particularly when several forms of cancer, including breast, ovarian and colon, are linked to vitamin D deficiency, as well as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and stroke.

So how much vitamin D should you be taking to maximize the health benefits from this key nutrient?  Currently, most organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, recommend only 1000 IU. 

However, a charitable organization called GrassrootsHealth (http://www.grassrootshealth.net/) has gathered the opinions of sixteen prominent vitamin D researchers and physicians in the United States and Canada – and they recommend an intake of 2000 IU of vitamin D3 per day (Vitamin D3, also called ‘cholecalciferol’, is the type of vitamin D you should be looking for in a supplement).  These scientists firmly believe, as do I, that this amount is safe, and is absolutely necessary to achieve ‘sufficient’ levels for the majority of the population.  Two thousand IU is also the upper limit that the United States’ National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine regards as having no adverse health effects.

A review article published last year in Annals of Epidemiology, suggests that by raising oral intake of vitamin D3 to 2000 IU per day that approximately 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer would be prevented in Canada and the United States each year.

The importance of adequate levels of vitamin D is further demonstrated by a study of five hundred and twelve women living in Toronto, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. These women had their vitamin D levels measured and then were followed up to determine outcomes.  The results, published in 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that women with deficient vitamin D levels were more likely to experience a distant recurrence or die compared to those with sufficient levels of the vitamin.

Did you take your vitamin D today?

Mineral Based Sunscreens (Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide)

The “burning” question regarding the ingredients: Mineral Based Sunscreens (Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide)

With the lack of scientific evidence regarding the safety of the long-term use of chemical (non-mineral) based sunscreens that contain oxybenzone, mineral based sunscreens provide a great alternative.

Unlike chemical based sunscreens that absorb the harmful radiation from the sun, mineral based sunscreens contain active ingredients that block both UVA and UVB radiation. These ingredients include zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Sunscreens that contain these ingredients are seen to be much more efficient as their chemical counterparts. Sunscreens that use zinc oxide and titanium dioxide begin blocking the harmful UV radiation (UVA and UVB) the moment it is applied to the skin. They last longer than your conventional chemical based sunscreen and they are known to be less of a skin irritant especially to those who have sensitive skin, such as myself.

So are mineral based sunscreens better and safer than chemical based sunscreens?

Well, traditionally, mineral based sunscreens leave a lot to be desired in terms of their aesthetic qualities as compared to chemical based sunscreens. They tend to be greasier, whiter (opaque) in colour and do not blend into the skin leaving a white creamy residue.

It has been found that sunscreen aesthetics have a significant impact of whether they are used and applied properly. If the sunscreen is too greasy, too thick and does not blend into the skin, it is normally not used properly no matter how effective the ingredients of the sunscreen may be.

So, yes, mineral based sunscreens may be better and “safer” than chemical based sunscreens but they tend not to be used “properly” which poses a significant issue regarding sun protection and skin cancer prevention.

However, new formulations of mineral based sunscreens have been developed which provide more aesthetically pleasing characteristics. Technology has now allowed sunscreen makers to shrink the size of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide particles to the point where they have become virtually translucent. These “nanoparticles” have allowed mineral based sunscreens to become thinner, less greasy and have given them the ability to blend into the skin more much more effectively. 

But, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and a report released last year from Friends of the Earth, an international grassroots environmental network, the size of these particles may be a cause for concern.

It is believed that the smaller the particle, the more easily zinc oxide and titanium dioxide can be absorbed in the body and into the blood steam. It has been shown that when these chemicals are absorbed into the blood stream, they can pose significant harm.

Although this may be a cause for concern, according to EWG analysis, this has yet to be proven whether these nanoparticles are actually absorbed into our skin though sunscreen use.

So which type of sunscreen, those containing oxybenzone or those containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, are truly safer?

EWG states:

Although we expected to reach a different conclusion at the outset of our sunscreen investigation, when we balanced all factors important in sunscreen safety, our analysis shows that many zinc and titanium-based sunscreens are among the safest and most effective sunscreens on the market.


Simply, there seems to be more breadth in the research that suggests oxybenzone “may” be more harmful than zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanopartciles. In time research may, or may not, suggest otherwise, but for now it seems mineral based sunscreens are more recommended.

However, we have to remember that sunscreen is a secondary measure of sun protection. We all know that the primary way to stay safe from the harmful effects of the sun is by staying in the shade, avoiding the sun during peak hours or remaining covered while outdoors.

Next up on Be “Sun” Savvy
•    Issues regarding retinyl palmitate (vitamin a) in sunscreen, vitamin D defficieny and issues regarding sunscreen sprays
•    Proper sunscreen etiquette and conclusions

Sources of Information
Canadian Cancer Society. (March, 2010). Sunscreen and cancer. Accessed on June 18th,
2010 at http://bit.ly/dqgNog

Environmental Working Group. (2010). EWG’s 2010 sunscreen guide. Accessed on June
15th, 2010 at http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Friends of the Earth. (2009). Manufactured nanomaterials and sunscreens:
Top reasons for precaution. Accessed on May19th, 2010 at http://bit.ly/bWcUfK

Gavura, Scott. (June, 2010). The great sunscreen cover up. Science-Based Medicine.
Accessed on June 18th, 2010 at http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=5541