Insufficient Sun Exposure Has Become a Real Public Health Problem

Abstract

This article aims to alert the medical community and public health authorities to accumulating evidence on health benefits from sun exposure, which suggests that insufficient sun exposure is a significant public health problem. Studies in the past decade indicate that insufficient sun exposure may be responsible for 340,000 deaths in the United States and 480,000 deaths in Europe per year, and an increased incidence of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, asthma, type 1 diabetes and myopia. Vitamin D has long been considered the principal mediator of beneficial effects of sun exposure. However, oral vitamin D supplementation has not been convincingly shown to prevent the above conditions; thus, serum 25(OH)D as an indicator of vitamin D status may be a proxy for and not a mediator of beneficial effects of sun exposure. New candidate mechanisms include the release of nitric oxide from the skin and direct effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on peripheral blood cells. Collectively, this evidence indicates it would be wise for people living outside the tropics to ensure they expose their skin sufficiently to the sun. To minimize the harms of excessive sun exposure, great care must be taken to avoid sunburn, and sun exposure during high ambient UVR seasons should be obtained incrementally at not more than 5–30 min a day (depending on skin type and UV index), in season-appropriate clothing and with eyes closed or protected by sunglasses that filter UVR.

COVID-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents' mental health: Biological, environmental, and social factors

“…Sunlight exposures have also positive effects on human health ( Alfredsson et al, 2020 ). Suitable sunlight exposure is essential for vitamin D synthesis, which is involved in several physiological functions ( Föcker et al, 2017 ).…”

“…However, insufficient sunlight exposure along with a low status of vitamin D may be responsible for critical public health issues and neuropsychiatric disturbances such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, asthma, type 1 diabetes, autism, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and depression ( Alfredsson et al, 2020 ; Brouwer-Brolsma et al, 2013 ; Föcker et al, 2017 ; Humble et al, 2010 ; Itzhaky et al, 2012 ). Accordingly, it was demonstrated that adults with depression exposed to low sunlight showed a decrease in interleukin-6 (IL-6) serum levels, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, when compared to adults with depression who were exposed to high sunlight ( Levandovski et al, 2013 ), which supports the well described benefits of proper sunlight exposition ( Alfredsson et al, 2020 ). Also, there was already observed that increased serum levels of IL-6 during childhood have been associated with a greater risk of developing depression and psychosis in young adulthood ( Khandaker et al, 2014 ).…”

Physical Determinants of Vitamin D Photosynthesis: A Review

“…Exposure to sunlight has many effects on human health (1) including erythema (sunburn), skin cancer, and vitamin D synthesis. Until recently, vitamin D synthesis was regarded as the only benefit from solar exposure, but there is increasing evidence for other health benefits that are independent of vitamin D, (1,2) such as reduced blood pressure. (3)(4)(5) All UVR effects are initiated by the absorption of UVR by chromophores.…”

Estimations of the Erythemal UV Doses and the Amount of the Sun-Synthesized Vitamin D by Adults during the Cruise to Spitsbergen–Polar Measurement Campaign (2–21 July 2017)

“…There are numerous studies showing the vitamin D importance in prevention of various cancers such as breast, colon, prostate [7], and several other cancers [8]. In the recent years it has been widely discussed that skin cancer prevention should be balanced with spending time outdoors [9,10], as it may have a greater positive role than just vitamin D synthesis [11,12]. Very recently, a link of the serum vitamin D level with severity of COVID-19 infection is a widely discussed issue [13][14][15].…”

“…Both studies showed that there is a great risk of overexposure in these regions. This problem concerns not only the occupational overexposures, but it may also appear during tourist cruises, which became a popular Atmosphere 2021, 12, 474 2 of 12 way of spending leisure time in the high latitude regions (e.g., the summer Hurtigruten Norwegian costal voyages, which contrary to whole-year cruises attract also young people).…”