A new study by researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago finds that African-American men are 3.5 times as likely as white men to have vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to diseases such as prostate cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Adam Murphy, a clinical instructor in urology at Northwestern, states that “it takes a dark-skinned male 90 minutes three times a week to absorb enough sunlight to produce the recommended amount of vitamin D compared to 15 minutes three times a week for a Caucasian male. He recommends that African Americans take high levels of vitamin D supplements.
Dr. Murphy, who completed his medical training at the University of Chicago, presented the research at a recent conference of the American Association of Cancer Researchers in Washington.
While the melanin in the skin of persons of African descent protects them in relation to skin cancer, it keeps out much of the vitamin D that is absorbed from sunlight and that is necessary for good health. The effects of vitamin D deficiency are beginning to be more thoroughly studied. It is possible to supplement this vitamin.