Robbie S

Your article/repsonse was weak, for all the reasons I posted...here's my daughter's 9th grade paper--

The Sun: Friend or Foe?

Sunshine is commonly regarded as something humans should be protected from, but the truth is that sunshine is life’s most crucial requirement. This important fact is being ignored today and as a result, thousands of people are dying from otherwise preventable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disease and many others. Ask most people today what they think of the sun, and one will most probably hear a chorus of criticism ranging from the threat of getting skin cancer to prematurely aging your skin. These concerns have been overstated and exaggerated to a point where people actually fear being out in the sun and consequently no longer receive the benefits of ultra-violet exposure, instead subjecting themselves unknowingly to a number of deadly diseases. Moderate exposure to sunlight can dramatically reduce these ailments and improve human health. It is a necessary requirement for all human beings and indeed, for all living organisms.

The sun provides the Earth with all of its energy and light. Without it, all living things would die. Plants need it for photosynthesis, animals need it for warmth and well-being, and humans need it for physiological and psychological health. Simply put, the Earth would be barren without the Sun. Therefore, the question of whether sunshine is a value to humans is really not the question that should be asked. Human beings require sunlight to survive. The real question is, how much sunlight do human beings need to live a healthy life?

The answer, we are told, is none. The American Academy of Dermatologists [AAD] denies that human beings need sunlight to make Vitamin D naturally and states that all people, regardless of skin color, should wear sunscreen 365 days a year. One of its past presidents even boasted at a national press conference that humans would one day live underground to avoid the sun. The AAD’s recommendation, that people constantly use sunscreen and stay out of the sun, has helped grow the SPF industry grow from thirty-five million dollars to thirty-five billion dollars in just the last twenty-five years. This thousand-fold increase in business hasn’t altered skin cancer statistics, but instead has lead to an enormous amount of premature death and preventable sickness. In a paper titled “UV Radiation, Vitamin D and Human Health: An Unfolding Controversy” by Dr. Grant, Dr. Garland, and Dr. Holick, the doctors noted that “50,000-63,000 individuals in the United States and 19,000-25,000 in the United Kingdom die prematurely from cancer annually due to the insufficient Vitamin D from inadequate exposure to solar UVB irradiance [sunlight], diet, and supplements”.

If one googles “cancer maps”, one can see mortality from cancer rises exponentially the further you go north or south of the equator. Deaths from cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disease also follow this pattern. It wasn’t until recently that scientists discovered the inverse relationship between the incidence of these deadly diseases and sunshine. They knew that the further you are from the equator the higher the likelihood that you would die from these diseases, but they didn’t know why. Today they do; the link is Vitamin D.

Scientists once thought that the body’s production of activated Vitamin D was only necessary for calcium absorption and bone health. The thinking was that Vitamin D (from either the sun, fish, milk, and/or supplements) was converted to activated Vitamin D by the kidneys from where it was disbursed to promote bone health. Recent breakthroughs have shown that Vitamin D can be activated by a variety of cells; including breast, colon, prostrate and immune cells, where it prevents unhealthy cell reproduction, which become cancer and autoimmune diseases. Having the body produce Vitamin D helps to increase cell differentiation, regulate cell death, reduce the amount of blood that travel to tumors, and thereby reduces cancer.

Research studies show that Vitamin D blood levels consistent with current US recommendations, 20nmol/L (the amount required for bone health), puts one in the highest percentile of those who get breast, colon and many other cancers. The same studies show that increasing blood levels of Vitamin D to more than 120nmol/L (optimum Vitamin D health) reduce cancer risk by half. This research alone should be enough to convince anyone that staying out of the sun, thereby not producing Vitamin D, is blatantly unhealthy and in fact, very risky. The risk is more than doubled for darker-skinned people, as they require much more sunlight to produce the same Vitamin D that lighter-skinned people do.

In 1994, twenty-two out of one hundred thousand white skinned people died of prostrate cancer a year compared to forty-seven out of one hundred thousand black skinned people- more than double. Darker skin requires six times as much sun exposure to produce Vitamin D blood levels comparable to that of white skinned people. Interestingly this means that darker skin types should seek sun exposure even more than whiter skin types, yet culturally, this is often the opposite. In the most recent study in this field, a four-year clinical trial at Creighton University involving 1,200 women, it was found that those with optimum Vitamin D levels showed a sixty percent reduction in breast cancer incidence. In fact, optimum Vitamin D levels have been associated with lower cancer incidence rates for eighteen different types of cancers.

The benefits do not end there. Researchers have demonstrated that Vitamin D helps treat and prevent autoimmune diseases such as Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Psoriasis. A study involving children in Finland proved that supplementing Vitamin D ten-fold (giving children 2000IU’s compared to the recommended 200IU’s) resulted in a reduction of type 1 Diabetes by eighty percent. A study of children aged 6 to 15 showed a 74% reduction in MS for those children who spent a lease four hours a day in the sun. In 2005, Dr. Holick published a study showing significant improvement in ninety-two percent of his Psoriasis patients that he treated with activated Vitamin D. Studies have also shown that people who go through Vitamin D Therapy have increased their energy, strength, resolution of hormonal problems, weight loss, relief from sugar cravings, blood sugar normalization, and improvement of nervous system disorders. Overall, Vitamin D helps with Autoimmune health, Cellular health, Organ health, Mood health, and Bone health.

As the research continues to show more and more benefits of healthy Vitamin D levels, the media’s focus on skin cancer has left the public still fearful of the sun. This fear is misplaced. Skin cancer accounts for approximately 1,000 deaths a year compared to internal cancers, many which could be prevented, which kill nearly 2,000 a day. Even as early as 1941, doctors published in the first Journal of Cancer that “… an increase risk of non-melanoma skin cancer was one of the prices to be paid for the decreased risk of cancer of the prostrate, breast, and colon.” Today it is estimated that for every one person that dies from over exposure to the sun, one hundred people die from insufficient exposure.

Some argue that Malignant Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer claiming nearly 9,000 deaths per year, should be included in cancer statistics from over exposure yet scientific studies show a different picture. In addition to the fact that 80% of Malignant Melanoma lesions appear on parts of the body that receive very little sun exposure (back of the legs, bottom of the feet etc.), in a 1997 paper, published by J. Elwood in the International Journal of Cancer, stated that regular sunlight exposure decreased the risk of melanoma by fourteen percent. Dr. Berwick’s 2005 paper, also published in the Journal of National Cancer Institute stated that people diagnosed with Melanoma who had greater exposures to sunlight, had increased survival rates from this deadly cancer. Finally, a naval study by Dr. F Garland, compared melanoma rates of those who worked on the decks of aircraft carriers to those who worked below deck. Malignant Melanoma was more prevalent in those who worked below deck, receiving less sunlight exposure than those who worked on the decks. The evidence suggests that sunlight doesn’t cause malignant melanoma, but instead helps to prevent it. Smoking, the consumption of alcohol, and one’s dietary habits are the main causes of Melanoma.

The case for optimum Vitamin D levels should be clear, but this leaves open the question: how should human beings get their Vitamin D. One way is through different types of foods such as: fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), products fortified with Vitamin D (milk, orange juice, cereal grain bars), and supplements. Vitamin D can be toxic when ingested and as such, oral forms of Vitamin D should be limited. Dr. Holick, America’s leading Vitamin D researcher states “sunlight is by far the best and most reliable source of Vitamin D for most humans”. Sun induced Vitamin D is never toxic at any level making it the safest way to get this all-important nutrient. For those who don’t have access to sunny climates, indoor tanning beds are a suitable alternative. One third of a tanning session is equivalent to 4,000IU’s of Vitamin D. This amount of exposure, three times per week, would be sufficient to maintain optimum vitamin D levels.

In September 2006 Reader’s Digest reported that “…getting enough Vitamin D may be the most important thing you can do for your health”. Today Vitamin D research is being vigorously pursued worldwide. The benefits of moderate sun exposure clearly outweigh the risks and accordingly, people should rethink their fear of sun exposure, and instead embrace healthy sun practices in order to live healthy lives. The sun, when properly understood, is most definitely our friend.