staying healthy in the fast lane- Tobacco use
- Being overweight and/or obese
- Low fruit and vegetable intake
- Physical inactivity
- Alcohol use
- Sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and HPV
- Urban air pollution
- Indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels
- Sunlight exposure
Generally, the WHO perspectives on health are excellent, but I
would exercise caution in recommending the complete avoidance
of sunlight on a mass scale. Sunlight is a critical nutrient and a
health-promoting agent. In fact, it is probably a lifesaver if used
properly and could cheaply and effectively improve the world’s
health the way few, if any, approaches could.
The cancers of the skin that arise from excessive or improper
sun exposure (squamous or basal cell cancers) are generally not as
lethal, with squamous cell causing more deaths (2,500 deaths per
year) than basal cell cancers which causes few deaths but can be
very disfiguring.^6 Melanoma, the most life-threatening form of skin
cancer, accounts for 75 percent of all deaths from skin cancer while
providing less than 5 percent of the skin cancer incidence.^7 Mela-
noma occurs on non-sun-exposed areas of the body as well as sun-
exposed.^8 It occurs more frequently in indoor workers than outdoor
workers chronically exposed to sunlight.^9 A tan or dark skin, and the
ability to tan provides some protection against melanoma.^10 With
the use of sunscreens, which predominantly block UVB light needed
for protective tanning and the manufacturing of vitamin D, there has
been a linear increase, not decrease, in the incidents of melanoma.
This may be due to an increase in damaging UVA light that is not
blocked by sunscreens generally, as well as increased sun exposure
from ignorance of believed sunscreen protection.^11
Another risk factor for melanoma may be a thick ozone layer
(such as in certain parts of Australia), which blocks UVB light,