![]()
One of the more persistent health myths going: Health "experts" and the media preaching the dangers of sun exposure to your health. That's completely wrong because everyone needs sunshine to maintain their optimal health. A pair of new studies go along way toward debunking the mythical link between skin cancer and sun exposure.
In a Danish study on lymphoma, ultraviolet rays from the sun and sun lamps reduced a patient's risk of developing cancer by as much as 40 percent. The findings were based on interviews with some 6,000 patients, including more than 3,000 who suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico -- studying the influence of sun exposure on the mortality rate of patients suffering from malignant melanomas -- found those with higher levels of sun exposure were less likely to die than their fellow melanoma patients who didn't. The authors believe sun exposure increases the production of vitamin D which reduces one's risk of cancer.
Glad to read conventional medicine may be finally coming around to the fact that maintaining optimal vitamin D levels -- by having them tested -- is one of the most important things you can do to prevent and treat cancers.
The safest way to do that is through sun exposure, but many of us are not able to do that in the winter, and some of us prefer to stay indoors in the summer. For those who don't get enough, taking a high-quality fish or cod liver oil is a reasonable alternative, and more important than any supplement because it is an essential food.
BBC News February 1, 2005