A daily calcium supplement “halves” the risk of skin diseases

Not only can calcium strenthgen bones, develop muscles, secrete hormones and regulate various operations within the body, but taking a daily calcium supplement has also been found to half the risk of skin diseases, according a study.

According to the report, researchers looked at people who have suffered with a history of non-lethal forms of skin cancer and have the highest risk of suffering a malignant melanoma, the most dangerous strain.

However, they found that by giving a calcium and vitamin D combined supplement on a daily basis, that these women were 57 per cent less likely to develop the disease than those with a similar medical history.

Dr Jean Tang who led the study at the Stanford University in California, said: “If you previously had a non-melanoma skin cancer, calcium plus vitamin D might reduce your risk of the more deadly melanoma.”

The study looked at over 36,000 women who were aged between 50 to 79. They tracked the health of these women for an average of seven years. During these seven years, the women who were taking part were given either a daily dose of calcium along with vitamin D or a “dummy” pill. Of those who took part, just 176 developed a melanoma.

After extensive study, Dr Tang and her colleagues discovered that only the women with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer benefited from the supplements in the study which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Those women who had no history saw no reduction in melanoma risk.

Another study led by Dr Tang last year showed that elderly men with higher levels of vitamin D have fewer non-melanoma skin cancers.

Future research by Dr Tang’s team will look at the effect of larger doses of vitamin D on patients at risk of skin cancer.