LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

sun exposure

Ditch the Remote and Head to the Beach to Avoid Diabetes

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I’m not saying we should go lather on some baby oil and sit by the pool here in AZ in August from 11 to 1, but neither should we be slapping on SPF 80 to walk to the car.

This demonizing of the sun has had far more dangerous consequences than we could ever have imagined.  I’m all for public health and sanitation, but why does it seem like many of the recommendations like sun avoidance, increasing dairy intake and mindless devotion to vaccination all seem to have far reaching negative effects?

In this particular study, we find that those who had more sun exposure habits had a 30% lower risk of diabetes.  We can make an educated hypothesis that vitamin D is playing a role, but also that many times when we are outside we are more active.  Hiking anyone?

Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamin D

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DON’T LIVE IN AZ OR FL?  ARE YOU OR YOUR CHILDREN AT RISK FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS??

The likely answer is yes.  There is a clear delineation between those living at higher latitudes and the risk of MS, with Vit D being the key link.  And while Vit D likely plays an integral role in the onset of MS, it’s effect on treatment of MS is not that strong.  That means effecting the process before it starts.  So why doesn’t everyone in the frigid tundra of Chicago get MS?  The answer most likely lies in genetic uniquenesses.  This article looks at genetic uniquenesses (called “SNPs”) that may contribute to risk in the presence of lower Vit D levels.  Basically, if you have a disadvantaged SNP and you don’t have enough Vit D, your risk is much higher.  One of the SNPs (Vitamin D receptor, or VDR) is of concern.  These SNPs, despite common perception, ARE are to be checked with simple cheek swabs with certain companies.

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Sunlight and Vitamin D; More Complicated than We Thought?

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I admit have fallen into a bad habit when it comes to vitamin D.  I have exchanged the benefits of sunlight for vitamin D supplementation.  Turns out I may be mistaken.

This is not to say that vitamin D, by itself, does not have a long list of benefits and has not been associated with pretty much every chronic disease you can think of, because it has.

But somewhere along the way I thought we could have our cake and eat it, too.  Don’t worry about sun exposure and basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers–just take vitamin D instead and you’ll get all the same beneifts.  (You’ll notice I didn’t throw in melanoma–the relationships between melanoma and sun exposure are not exactly clear-cut, despite what most people think).

But, just like everything else that has to do with the way our bodies are built and the way we interact with our environment, the story is always far, far more complex.  Beyond vitamin D production in the epidermis, what about that first sensation of warmth you get after walking out in the sun from a cold building?  Or sitting in a lawn chair in the spring feeling the sun on your skin?  (This of course does not apply here in Arizona in July, in which case you would be burnt to a crisp in about 8 minutes)

There is an emotional component to sun exposure that may go beyond anything we can really measure accurately.  This can never be replaced by vitamin D supplementation.

So why all this philosophizing?  It has to do with this particular article.  In this mouse study researchers looked at the effects of sunlight on multiple diabetes risk factors (weight gain, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease measures and blood levels of fasting insulin, glucose, and cholesterol).  What was interesting is that these same benefits were not all seen when vitamin D supplementation was used instead of sun exposure.  Clearly this indicates that sunlight has benefits above and beyond its ability to help your body produce vitamin D.

So what gives?

Turns out that sunlight (specifically UVA) leads to the production of the compound nitric oxide (NO) in the skin.  While small, NO is a pretty unique little compound that has a commendable list of biological effects.  On the top of the list is its ability to lower blood pressure.  The decades-long search for this compound (originally termed “endothelial derived relaxation factor) led to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1998 to Drs Furchgott, Ignarro and Murad.

While NO is not the end-all-and-be-all of anti-diabetes molecules found in our bodies, it certainly does play a role.  This is the reason why the market for arginine-based products was created (our bodies use arginine to make more NO).  However, I personally think that adding more NO to the equation does not overcome a pro-diabetic lifestyle and the long-term studies looking at arginine supplementation bear this out.

This does not mean that using rationale sunlight exposure as a tool in the toolbox to help combat diabetes is a bad idea.  Quite the opposite.  I think that sunlight exposure should be a part of a healthy lifestyle, not just for vitamin D production but also for the psychological effects and the NO effects on diabetes as well.

Remember that next time you slap on SPF-80 and run to the car under a black umbrella…

 

Applying Sunscreen May Give Sunbathers a False Sense of Security – (08-07-00)

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Applying Sunscreen May Give Sunbathers a False Sense of Security

This study suggests that use of sunscreen may increase your risk of melanoma by promoting longer sun exposure periods.

Int J Cancer 2000;87:145-150 Sunscreen use is not associated with a reduced risk of melanoma, according to study results in the July 1st issue of the International Journal of Cancer. The risk is increased, Dr. Johan Westerdahl and colleagues from University Hospital, Lund, Sweden, report, because sunscreens permit longer exposure to the sun. Several epidemiologic studies, including one performed by Dr. Westerdahl’s group in 1995, have suggested an association between sunscreen use and an increased risk of melanoma. Sunscreens are being used incorrectly, according to the team, and the components of sunscreens are not carcinogenic. Rather, it appears that sunscreen use “influence[s] melanoma risk by increasing the amount of UV radiation delivered to the skin,” the authors write. Dr. Westerdahl and colleagues say that these findings “substantiate the hypothesis that sunscreen use, by permitting more time sunbathing, is associated with melanoma occurrence.”

EARLY SUN EXPOSURE REDUCES BREAST CANCER RISK – (11-05-07)

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Vitamin D and Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

I just spent this past weekend volunteering at the Breast Cancer 3-day in the medical tent providing injury care to the walkers. Invariably, in conversation with patients, the question of why they were walking came up. I will always remember the response of an 18 yr old girl who’s mom died of breast cancer 5 yrs ago. I asked her what SHE was doing to prevent breast cancer for herself. She replied with some degree of frustration that “they” won’t do anything because she was too young. Of course she was referring to mammography. But how twisted has our society become that we, at it’s most important moment, confuse prevention with early detection?

This study is a perfect example of how much can be done to intervene in the process. But given our aversion to preventing cancer, and that this study found that early exposure (10-19 years of age) to the sun cut risk by 35%, how many generations will it be before we pass knowledge of prevention from the adults that “get it” to the youth that “need it??”

Read entire article here

REDUCE CANCER RATES BY SUPPLEMENTING VITAMIN D – (10-29-07)

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Optimal Vitamin D Status for Colorectal Cancer Prevention – A Quantitative Meta Analysis

1,000 to 2,000 IU/day of Vit D could result in a 50% reduction in cancer rates. 50%. One half. With no known side effects to Vit D supplementation at this level, and little risk with rationale sun exposure. Shouldn’t this information be plastered across every piece of marketing material the American Cancer Society puts out? If the benefit is so clear cut, why do I still get push back from people in the community when I suggest 2,000 IU/day? Shouldn’t everyone be aware of this by now?

I can’t begin to explain my frustration with all the focus on “finding a cure” when knowledge about prevention is so incredibly strong. And this is just one approach, which, incidentally, would also be in line with the AHA’s and ADA’s agendas, since they purport to lower the burden of their respective diseases.

Read entire article here

BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF VITAMIN D – (02-11-07)

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Vitamin D Status in Relation to One-Year Risk of Recurrent Falling in Older Men and Women

While I have not seen any guesses as to the mechanism of how this occurs, the findings in this study are staggerring.  Low levels of Vit D led to almost 5 times the risk of falling.  Five times.  I firmly believe that our current public health stance that produces fear mongering sunlight exposure is one of the more damaging things that is occurring to our health.

Some studies find that Vit D deficiency is as high as 75% of the population.  Given the wide range of beneficial effects of Vit D, these findings should be viewed as a public health alarm, gravely more dangerous to our health than not getting our flu shot or making sure you don’t miss that colonoscopy.  So why does this remain a secret?  There may be some serious face lost if we have to reverse our national recommendations for sun exposure.

Read entire article here

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION AND RISK OF SKIN CANCER IN US WOMEN – (09-01-08)

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Geographic variation and risk of skin cancer in US women

The popular press has been somewhat excited about the increase in melanoma incidence in our children and immediately cast blame on over sun exposure. As if our kids weren’t sitting inside all day on the computer or XBox or wearing SPF 90 to walk to the car. It is very obvious that our children are getting much less sun exposure than the previous generation, and yet melanoma risk is going up.

If the sun exposed areas of the country do not have a disproportionately high rate of melanoma as this study suggests, then the blame needs to rightfully fall elsewhere. Low intakes of healthy fats. Low phytonutrient intake. Too LITTLE rationale sun exposure (sun exposure can actually be protective against some melanomas!!). Instead of focusing on sun exposure, we need to point to the elephant in the room and allow the right choices to be made to lower risk of melanomas.

Read entire article here