Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have concluded that African American women are four times more likely than white women to have a genetic mutation that makes their breast cancer more deadly. While African American women are less likely than white women to get breast cancer, they have a greater chance of developing aggressive tumors. I believe that this occurrence is completely related to the womens' darker skin tone, which severely filters UVB radiation from the sun, thereby dramatically decreasing their vitamin D levels. We are all designed to obtain vitamin D from the sun, but the high concentration of melanin in the skin of most African Americans essentially blocks the majority of UV-B that converts cholesterol into vitamin D.
African Americans who want to live a healthy life in the United States need to pay careful attention to this simple nutrient. Because of this, nearly all dark-skinned individuals living in the United States need to be on cod liver oil year-round as the color of their skin makes it very difficult for them to get too much vitamin D from the sun in the United States. If you'd like to know more about how to prevent breast, and for that matter prostate, cancers, you can read this past article.
Al.com August 10, 2004