Risk of Death Doubled with Lowest Sun Exposure
Sunlight Deprivation Increases Risks for Death, CVD, Cancer, Parkinsonism, Alzheimer's, MS, ALS, and even Nearsightedness.
For decades we have been told about the need to avoid the sun, especially between 10 am and 2 pm. We have all been drilled by Public Health Authorities on the dangers of skin cancer and the need to cover up, use sunscreen, and wear protective clothing.
For the past 43 years, Australia has touted the slogan, “Slip, Slop, and Slap” - Slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat. Touting means to sell something boldly or aggressively, usually without any evidence.
Similar sun-avoidance advice was given in major countries worldwide, including the United States. The assumption was that sunlight was a major cause of death through melanoma and that this Public Health Campaign would save lives.
Therefore, a group of Swedish Researchers scientifically tested the hypothesis with a 20-year prospective study involving 29,518 women - known as the Melanoma in Southern Sweden - MISS - cohort. Women were recruited from 1990 to 1992 and were aged 20 to 64 at the beginning of the study.
After the twenty years, 2545 deaths had occurred among the original 29,518 subjects. And the results were quite the opposite of what had been hypothesized. The death rate in the most sun-exposed group was not greater as expected.
It was half the rate of the least sun-exposed.
The researchers concluded that avoiding sun exposure was dangerous to one’s health and a risk factor for all-cause mortality.
Other researchers agreed and recently estimated that in the United States alone, sunlight avoidance was responsible for some 340,000 deaths annually. In Europe, an estimated 480,000 deaths per year are caused by sun avoidance.
As A Midwestern Doctor recently wrote, researchers have noted that the survival benefits of sunlight cannot all be explained by Vitamin D.
While we might speculate on Vitamin D levels being the reason, recent literature has looked at the benefits of UV radiation aside from Vitamin D levels, and in particular, the beneficial effect on Nitric Oxide - NO - was noted.
Sunlight exposure causes the release of NO from the skin, and this can relax arteries and reduce blood pressure. Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent vasodilator produced by the vascular endothelium - the inner lining of the blood vessel. A large study on hemodialysis patients showed that UVR exposure is inversely correlated with blood pressure independent of ambient temperature. Another study revealed that low serum 25(OH)D levels are associated with increased all-cause mortality - but not with cardiovascular mortality. It is not the Vitamin D or metabolite that creates the benefit from sunlight on the blood vessels and heart. It is the NO release that reduces blood pressure and relaxes arteries.
As little as 30 minutes of exposure to mid-day sunlight can mobilize sufficient NO to relax arterial resistance. Elevated blood pressure or the disease of hypertension is not always caused by the overproduction of vasoconstrictors like angiotensin but can be produced by impaired production of vasodilators like NO due to inadequate exposure to sunlight.
Rather than medicating with antihypertensive drugs for a lifetime, perhaps it is time to consider spending more time outdoors in the sun. In sunlight-deprived individuals, the researchers found double the risk of cardiovascular mortality Thus, sunlight exposure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.
The lowered incidence and mortality of many types of cancer due to sunlight exposure is well documented. The inverse relationship is best seen in cancers of the breast and colon, but is also noted in bladder, esophageal, gallbladder, gastric, ovarian, rectal, renal, and uterine corpus cancer, as well as Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Dr. William Grant estimated that inadequate sunlight exposure is responsible for 21,700 premature cancer deaths annually.
Sunlight is also beneficial in helping a diverse range of other diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsonism, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Depression. However, sunlight exposure is even associated with lower rates of Nearsightedness, Asthma, Autism, Metabolic syndrome, and Type I Diabetes.
Nearsightedness, also known as myopia, can develop when the eye elongates during rapid growth. Interestingly myopia is not consistently correlated with Vitamin D levels. As with sunlight’s beneficial effect on heart disease risk, there is another variable at play.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Repurposed Drugs: Powers & Possibilities to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.