related more to sunburn.
A smaller Australian study, conducted in 2007, found that recreational but not occupational sun
exposure decreased risk, generally by 25 to 40 percent, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, one of the most
mysterious types of cancer (Armstrong, Kricker 2007). Scientists believe that production of vitamin
D from sun exposure offers us a protection mechanism against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A high
dietary intake of vitamin D also reduces the risk of this cancer.
Does it mean we have to ditch sunscreens and embrace the sun in order to stave off the onset of
multiple sclerosis and bone mass deficiency? Actually, we don’t have to fry on a sunny beach for
hours in order to keep healthy levels of vitamin D in our bodies, and of course we should not rely on
artificial tanning beds as a source of vitamin D. While agreeing that UVB radiation does boost
amounts of vitamin D, a recent article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
stresses that therapeutically important changes in vitamin D can be achieved with minimal tanning
(Armas et al. 2007). Sunbathing on a beach can generate 10,000 IUs of vitamin D or more in as little
as fifteen minutes. Depending on skin pigmentation, valuable increases in vitamin D can be achieved
by low doses of sun exposure that are enough to produce only a light tan.
There are other ways of maintaining healthy levels of vitamin D in our bodies. The biologically
active vitamin D metabolite, also known as dihy-droxyvitamin D3, is synthesized primarily in human
skin, but there are newly available analogues of vitamin D that can also protect the immune system
and various tissues against cancer and other diseases, including autoimmune and infectious diseases.
A 2007 study suggested that such vitamin D analogues may be effective against acne (Reichrath
2007). Today, UV radiation is used to treat psoriasis and vitiligo.
We Still Need Sun Protection!
It’s impossible—and actually harmful—to avoid the sun completely. A light tan is more than
enough to maintain healthy levels of vital vitamin D, but sun protection today is more important than
ever. Sunburns are directly linked to a higher risk of developing the most disastrous skin cancer—
melanoma—and it’s much easier to get burned today than twenty years ago. When the tan was first
made fashionable by Coco Chanel in the 1920s, the protective ozone layer was fairly intact, but the
first study linking skin cancer to relentless sun exposure dates back to 1948. Fifty years ago, tanning
was relatively safer than today. Now, huge gaps in the ozone layer, especially over large cities, allow
more harmful short-wave sun radiation to wreak havoc on our vulnerable skin. Too much careless sun
exposure can result in premature aging and uneven pigmentation, weakening of the skin’s immune
system, and most important, a higher risk of skin cancer.
Valuable increases in vitamin D can be achieved by low doses of sun exposure.
Sun exposure is indisputably linked to the development of melanoma, and blocking sun exposure is
recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology, the Skin Cancer Foundation, the American
Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection
Agency. Melanoma is a malignant tumor of pigment-producing melanocyte cells; it is a relatively rare
but deadly type of skin cancer.
According to theWorld Health Organization (WHO), melanoma kills about forty-eight thousand
people worldwide every year. Blistering and peeling sunburns, especially those having occurred in
childhood, are one of the main risk factors for melanoma, along with family history. People with fair