New York, June 16: Higher levels of Vitamin D among women may reduce their risk of developing breast cancer post menopause, claimed a new study.

The study found that women with blood levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (OH) -- the main form of vitamin D in blood -- above 60 ng/ml (nanograms per millilitre) had one-fifth the risk of breast cancer compared to those with less than 20 ng/ml.

Thus, researchers from the University of California-San Diego determined that the minimum healthy level of 25(OH) in blood plasma should be 60 ng/ml, instead of the earlier recommended higher than the 20 ng/ml.

"Increasing Vitamin D blood levels substantially above 20 ng/ml appears to be important for the prevention of breast cancer," said lead author Sharon McDonnell from GrassrootsHealth, a non-profit public health research organisation.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, analysed data from two randomised clinical trials with 3,325 combined women and a prospective study involving 1,713 women with average age of 63.

Participants were free of cancer at enrollment and were followed for a mean period of four years. Vitamin D levels in blood were measured during study visits.

"This study was limited to postmenopausal breast cancer. Further research is needed on whether high 25(OH)D levels might prevent premenopausal breast cancer," said Cedric F. Garland from UC-San Diego.



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Barwani (MP), Jan 28 (PTI) Police on Wednesday detained a 17-year-old relative of a seven-year-old girl in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly raping her and killing her by throwing her into a canal, a police official said.

Superintendent of Police Jagdish Dawar told reporters that the body of the child was recovered from the Indira Sagar Canal on January 26, following information from residents of a village in the Rajpur police station area of the district.

He said the post-mortem report concluded severe injuries to the girl’s private parts and attributed her death to drowning.

Dawar said a 17-year-old boy, a close relative of the girl, has been detained in connection with the rape-murder.

The teenager told the police that he kidnapped the girl from her home on the night of January 25 while her family members were asleep, took her to a nearby canal and raped her, according to the official.

When the girl started screaming during the sexual assault, the minor boy allegedly threw her into the canal, with the intention of killing her. The child drowned in the water body, the official said.

The detained minor will be produced in a juvenile court.

A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation is underway, he added.