Sunshine is so refreshing and cleansing that we absolutely love to go into the sun.  It is our source of physical energy as we know it.  In fact, just about everything that we can think of in our physical existence derives its energy from the sun.  There are multiple frequencies of energy that arrive from the sun onto the earth.  Warmth comes from infrared rays as it touches our skins and interacts with all physical matter to transfer heat.  Biologically, there are two frequencies in the ultra violet range that concerns us most:  UVA and UVB.  These rays have a significant impact on our skin.  Of course this blog is primarily about the UVB rays and how that generates cholecalciferol for healing, more commonly known as vitamin D3, from the cholesterol in our skin.

Originally, the concern for sunburn brought about the desire for a chemical that would keep us from burning, but yet would allow our bare skin to be exposed to the sun because of the great feeling that it gives us.  Up to this time, it had always been understood that spending gradually more time in the sun would allow the tanning process to take place until you reached the point where you could stay in the sun as long as you liked without concern for being burned.  Of course the population spent a lot of time outside so it was natural for your skin to tan as the intensity of UV increased with the movement of the sun toward summertime.  But then, with the invention of modern conveniences, much more time was spent inside.  When people decided it was time to travel to the lower latitudes or just simply go into a bright early summer sun they burned.

The first lotions were about tanning and not so much about preventing sunburn.  I remember well in the early sixties my siblings talking about what was the best tanning solution.  It seemed that ‘baby oil’ with iodine added was considered a great aid for tanning and would give you the richest deepest tan.  That was when the industry introduced the little girl on the beach with the dog pulling on her pants that we still see on a popular brand of lotion today.  This of course was done to show the difference in skin tone between ‘skin covered’ with fabric versus ‘the glorious tan’ provided by the product.  Dr. Gorham shows this in his presentation that we discussed from last post. Skin Cancer/Sunscreen – the Dilemma

This brings us to the increase of skin cancer that started to occur with the use of chemical lotions on our skin.  Dr. Gorham shows how this increase in skin cancer is directly correlated to the increased use of chemicals on our skin.  He goes on to show that the thick ozone layer over Australia acts just like sunscreen.  Of course he explains that just because there is correlation does not mean that there is causation, but the important point is that without correlation there cannot be causation.   It appears that the effect of sunscreen is the primary cause of the increase in skin cancer.

Until the late nineties, the sunscreen only stopped the penetration of UVB because this was the frequency that seemed to cause the sunburn.  It was then decided, perhaps, the UVA was causing the increase in skin cancer.  Dr. Gorham provides convincing scientific evidence this is the case as he points to another scientist’s work.  The platy fish contracts melanoma when UVB is blocked and UVA is allowed through. His contention is the primary cause for the increase in skin cancer is from how the sunscreen products prevented UVB penetration and increased the amount of UVA.

The chemicals that were used as sunscreen cause the energy from the UVB to reradiate (re-radiation works like fluorescing paints that we use on our highways and for other uses) in the UVA frequency so that there was more energy in the more deeply penetrating UVA rays.  This certainly seems to be the case.  If you think about how tanning works to allow the melanin to cover the nucleus of the cell for protection, the increase in UVA energy was defeating our natural mechanism for protection.  Think of a fortress that is being overrun by so many enemies that the moat and the fortified buttresses are not enough to keep them out.  Tanning works great to prevent skin cancer because people with lots of melanin and deep skin tone have the least amount of skin cancer.

Enough of this for the moment, I am off to the beach to enjoy the sun.  I would suggest that you do the same.  Get off you computer and go into the sun.   – Pandemic Survivor

The brilliant delightful sun splashes through misty clouds calling for you to come enjoy the warmth and renewal of too many days trapped inside.  A prisoner to long winters, your computer, too much tv, and an oppressive medical industry telling you that you will get skin cancer if you so choose to enjoy time in the sun.  But you feel in your bones the need to relax and bask and feel the health and energy as you soak up the rays.  There completing the task that has to be done outside or just relaxing with your favorite beverage (mine is a tonic water with you a splash of grapefruit juice and a lime) in a lounge chair out by the ocean with the waves splashing at your feet.  Every cell in your body soaks up the joy being poured into every pore of your being as a few minutes in the radiance becomes a spiritual renewal as well.  And still the drone of the medical industry disrupts our joy of the sun – “you’ll get cancer if you spend too much time in the sun you bad person.”

What are we supposed to do with fifty years of warnings about spending too much time in the sun when we know that it renews us?  Despite the warnings skin cancer rates have gone up five-fold since the fifties and ten-fold in the Nordic countries.  It is almost like a self full filling prophecy about getting cancer if you go into the sun.  Why has there been this large increase in cancer when we have spent less time in the sun and always wear sunscreen?  The effort that has gone into warnings in Australia has not been helpful as skin cancer rates have continued to increase.  What about tanning booths?  Do they really cause skin cancer if used properly and do they give us the same kind of tan and benefit as we get from the sun?  All of this confusion when all we wanted is to have the renewal that we know the sun provides.  The killers of joy and health belong to the rays from the sun or the warnings of the medical industry and chemical exposure in sunscreen?

We will try to explore these issues over the next several posts and try to reach an explanation as to why the skin cancer rates have gone up.  In the meantime, I would suggest that you watch this excellent presentation by Edward Gorham, PhD as he discusses the dilemma of skin cancer and sunscreen use.  This presentation is provided through the efforts of Grass Roots Health, a community of vitamin D researchers, and University of California public tv.  Skin Cancer/Sunscreen – the Dilemma, the forty-five minute discussion leads you through the different type of rays of the sun, why sunscreen has missed the mark over the last fifty years, and perhaps has even made matters worse.

What to look forward to for future post of spending time in the sun:
New changes to sunscreen by the FDA effective in June
How to enjoy the sun and protection that is required or not
Suggestions on artificial tanning

In the meantime, get as naked as you possibly can without getting locked up or insulting the neighbors and go into the sun.  – Pandemic Survivor