Melanoma Not Sun Related: Report

 Tuesday, November 25, 2011

One of the internet’s leading health-education web sites this week published a report slamming those who have singled-out UV exposure as the cause of melanoma — citing reports arguing that alleged melanoma increases are more a product of increased reporting and less a product of actual increase in disease.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, published an article on FoodConsumer.org on Monday.

“Rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, have been rising for at least the last three decades, and this increase has been largely blamed on exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun,” Mercola wrote. “However, research published in the British Journal of Dermatology shows that the sun is likely nothing more than a scapegoat in the development of melanoma, and the sharp increase may actually be ‘an artifact caused by diagnostic drift.’”

Mercola believes optimizing vitamin D levels will have more of a positive impact on human health and that regular sun exposure, or usage of a standard tanning bed, is the best way to produce vitamin D. “The sun is your best source of vitamin D because when you expose your skin to sunshine, your skin synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water-soluble and can travel freely in your bloodstream, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements,” he reports.

You Can’t Overdose Sunny “D”

Vitamin D supplements…..but not sunshine-induced vitamin D….led to unnaturally high vitamin D blood levels in a Utah study claiming that vitamin D blood levels over 100 ng/ml (250 mol/L) increase the risk of atrial fibrillation in the heart.

The study—presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting followed 132,000 Utah medical center patients.  But the high vitamin D levels reported in the study were not created by sun induced vitamin D production in the skin.  The reason: The body naturally destroys excess vitamin D made in the skin as a protective mechanism, so vitamin D toxicity does not occur in people who make vitamin D naturally from sun exposure.

The body does not regulate oral intake of vitamin D the same way, which is why it is possible in some cases for people with very high vitamin D absorption rates to overdose in vitamin D taken as a supplement.

Outdoor workers and indoor tanning clients have vitamin D levels around 40-60 ng/ml on average in the target range of the vitamin D that researchers recommend.  The American average today is around 23 ng/ml…which is deficient according to the vitamin D research community.  A generation ago before sunscreens were used as a daily use product…..that average was around 32 ng/ml according to government data.

Many studies now suggest that vitamin D levels above 40 ng/ml reduce the risk of heart failure, many forms of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other health-related problems.

So in closing,  get some much needed sunlight and don’t take the media sunscare to heart.  Your heart and health will appreciate it.

If we were meant to stay out of the sunlight with all of it’s benefits then we would all live in caves in the darkness.  Let’s lighten things up for once and let the sun be our friend again. 

UV Benefits Outweigh Risks, New Study Says

Friday, October 28,  2011

The health benefits of carefully increased UV exposure….from sun or from sunbeds…..outweigh the disputed and often-oversimplified risks of permanent skin damage, according to the Oslo University study published in the journel of Public Health Nutrition this past week.

The study…supported by the Norwegian Cancer Society pointed out that increased sun exposure to the Norwegian population would elevate depressed Vitamin D blood levels by 25 nmol/L, which could and might result in 4,000 fewer internal cancers and about 3,000 fewer cancer deaths overall.  This is credited to the previous work of Harvard University Vitamin D researcher Dr. Edwin Giovannucci’s paper published in the Journel Of the National Cancer Institute.

The paper noted that while some studies suggest a relationship between sunbed use and melanoma, others show NO association at all.

Due to the fear that has been put into the heads of the public of skin cancer, health authorities need to take the studies and findings and may need to step back and make revisions in what they say and write especially  when the evidence is clearly found that sun and sunbeds are a main source for Vitamin D.

Millions Tan To Avoid High Derm Fees

In a recent poll taken 86% of tanning salons report that they have clients that patron their salons on a regular basis to use sessions in sunbeds for a much less expense than what insurance would charge them for a visit to a dermatology office for phototherapy session in which it could cost as much as $100 a visit.

So with that being said, then if any UV exposure were as dangerous as dermatology lobbyists contend, then dermatologists would be guilty of violating their Hippocratic oath for using UV in what they describe as burning dosages to treat purely cosmetic skin conditions according to Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy.

So professional indoor tanning facilities are trained to deliver and promote a non-burning dosage of UV light to create a cosmetic tan  and also on the other side help and treat people with all sorts of conditions effectively.

So it’s time for researchers & media to start asking tough questions about why dermatologists refuse to talk about the real issues and motivations behind the scenes on their attacks on the indoor tanning industry.

Base Tans Work: Sunlight Research Forum

The Sunlight Research Forum-a non-profit organization promotes the benefits of regular or moderate sun exposure based on many recents studies conducted in the US and The Netherlands….issued a press statement urging the public to understand the value of building a base tan as nature’s first base line of protection against sunburn.

Allowing the skin to slowly become accustomed to UV radiation from sunlight by moderate tanning creates a protective effect.  Recent studies find that continuous sun exposure below the erythema threshold (when the skin begins to redden) is essential in helping the human body build up it’s natural self-protection mechanism against overexposure.

Tanning in a controlled enviroment and preparing the layers of skin over a three to four week period allows the proper way to fully develop yourself for tanning outdoors or for any exposure you may be planning this warm weather season.

New research has well founded that indoor and outdoor sunlight helps discipline your senses of making the right decisions and smart ones to helping people better understand the benefits of tanning.

Sunbed Users Have The Highest “D” Levels

Vitamin D is called “The Sunshine Vitamin” for a good reason….getting a suntan is widely recognized as producing 100-200 times more vitamin D than what is fortified into an 8-ounce glass of whole milk.  But what many people still don’t realize is that sunbed users have the highest vitamin D levels of any group.

Vitamin D levels are measured by taking blood samples and measuring the concentration of The Sunshine Vitamin in your bloodstream.  Here are the vitamin D blood level averages of different groups today in the most recent studies:

42.0  Indoor Tanners

40.0  Outdoor Workers

23.0  Non-Tanners

13.8  Dermatologists

How much vitamin D do you need?  That depends on who you ask.  Recent government reports suggest 30-50 ng/mg should be the target.

So with these recent studies of the importance of vitamin D needed for proper bone health, don’t believe all the so called Sun Scare tactics that some media hype has you thinking is true.

2-3 times a week for small increments of time in a tanning bed is a sure thing of getting that much needed vitamin D your body is so desperately asking you for.

Human Life

Human life is totally reliant on sun exposure, and the life-giving effects of ultraviolet light. The question for each of us – a question that nobody knows the exact answer to – is how much sun exposure is appropriate, and how much is too much. Basing the answer to that question on the belief that any exposure increases one’s risk of skin damage – a belief that is not categorically supported in the medical literature – fails to recognize the positive influence ultraviolet light and sunlight have on our lives. New research on breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and other deadly diseases – research that shows that regular sun exposure may play a key part in preventing the onset or retarding the growth of these deadly diseases – supports the position that moderate sun exposure, for those of us who can develop a tan, is the best way to maximize the potential benefits of sun exposure while minimizing the potential risks of either too much or too little exposure.