High altitude and Cancer: An old controversy
Review Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2021 Mar 22;103655. doi: 10.1016/j.resp.2021.103655
Walter S Calderón-Gerstein 1, Gabriela K Torres-Samaniego 2
For many health problems
higher altitude==> more UVB ==> more vitamin D ==> better heatlh
- High-altitude Cusco, Peru has far lower rate of COVID-19 than others (high UVB and Vitamin D) - June 2020
- Less COVID-19 at high altitude due to more Vitamin D or other possible reasons – July 2020
- Colorado has the best UV (and thus best health) in the US
- Decreased mortality with sun and or altitude
- 40 percent less likely to gain weight if live at high altitude (no mention of UVB nor vitamin D) – April 2014
- High-altitude associated with higher vitamin D and better bones (sheep in this case) – Feb 2013
- Does less sun mean more disease? video by VitaminDWiki - 5 minutes (2014)
- Many other anti-cancer photoproducts generated on the skin in addition to vitamin D – Jan 2014
- Some childhood cancer 30% less likely in parts of California with more UVB – April 2013
- More UVB is associated with less cancer – study of 450,000 people – April 2012
Abstract does not indicate if the Cancers which result from living at very high altitudes for generations result in the same. more, or fewer death rates than cancer death rates from living at low altitude.
Wonder if there is an "optimal altitude" which has the fewest cancer or all-cause deaths.
Ecological studies have found that individuals that live at high altitude regions and in places where ultraviolet radiation is maximal, have lower rates of different types of cancer. However, there is evidence that in these same regions, genetic mutations that are prooncogenic, develop, as they are needed to increase human adaptability to hypoxic environments. Debate has arisen between researchers who consider high altitude environments as suitable for human longevity because of its protective effects against malignancies, and scientists that have reported an increased incidence of different type of cancers in these same regions.
Evidence is presented that altitude is related to the development of genetic alterations in micro RNAs, p53 protein, lymphocyte activity, decrease in Fas Ligand and other proapoptotic molecules, as well as increase in prometastatic VGEF an HIF. Notwithstanding, higher vitamin D and ultraviolet B levels, and a better metabolic profile, taken together with lower pollution levels hves been related to lower incidence and mortality rates from malignancies in a series of epidemiological studies.