Taking nicotinamide—a vitamin B3 derivative sold as an over-the-counter supplement—may help prevent skin cancer.

This is the claim of scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center who found nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide, reduced the risk of skin cancer by 14 percent compared to those who didn't take it.

For those who had already had one skin cancer, it reduced the risk by as much as 54 percent.

The team looked at health data for 33,822 U.S. veterans, 12,287 of whom had taken 500mg of nicotinamide twice daily for longer than 30 days, while the remaining 21,479 patients had not.

The benefits declined among those patients who had skin cancer more than once before taking nicotinamide.

In the U.S., around 20 percent of people develop skin cancer in their lifetime. With thi

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