4 ms·

It might just be that the production of vitamin D via sunlight has other effects on the body, perhaps vitamin D has been a proxy for those effects but for obvio

It might just be that the production of vitamin D via sunlight has other effects on the body, perhaps vitamin D has been a proxy for those effects but for obvious reasons taking it as a supplement doesn't trigger the same outcome. It's unfortunate that exposure to UV is so harmful, I'm left wondering if trials using UV lightboxes to stimulate vitamin D production would change the kinds of outcomes (cancer, heart disease, depression...) we're expecting it to .

glofish 6y ago
Exposure to UV light is not "so harmful". What is harmful is being indoors all the time, and getting out so rarely that you get sunburned in short amount of time. Far more damage is done by being indoors too much than being outdoors too much. The white skin has evolved because the body needs sun and UV light to function, one would die otherwise.
scott_s 6y ago
It's possible, but we have no positive evidence for it. Absent that evidence, I don't think we should assume that possibility is reality.
ComputerGuru 6y ago
> It's unfortunate that exposure to UV is so harmful, This is an extremely popular simplification. The scientific jury is still out on this one, as it seems that paradoxically people with constant exposure to sunlight are less likely to get skin cancer as compared to those that get sporadic exposure.
- eloff 6y ago
  There was an interesting study (sorry I don't like to lookup citations on my mobile) showing that the prognosis for skin cancer patients is better in the summer than the winter, presumably because they get more sunlight. Not causative, but interesting nonetheless. Also MS is extremely prevalent at high latitudes compared to the tropics. Why? We know vitamin D has a role in protecting the insulation of the nerves, so maybe that's the mechanism. Anecdotal, but the one person I know with MS is white as the snow and avoids the sun like it's the devil.

glofish 6y ago

Exposure to UV light is not "so harmful". What is harmful is being indoors all the time, and getting out so rarely that you get sunburned in short amount of time. Far more damage is done by being indoors too much than being outdoors too much. The white skin has evolved because the body needs sun and UV light to function, one would die otherwise.

scott_s 6y ago

It's possible, but we have no positive evidence for it. Absent that evidence, I don't think we should assume that possibility is reality.

ComputerGuru 6y ago

> It's unfortunate that exposure to UV is so harmful, This is an extremely popular simplification. The scientific jury is still out on this one, as it seems that paradoxically people with constant exposure to sunlight are less likely to get skin cancer as compared to those that get sporadic exposure.

eloff 6y ago
There was an interesting study (sorry I don't like to lookup citations on my mobile) showing that the prognosis for skin cancer patients is better in the summer than the winter, presumably because they get more sunlight. Not causative, but interesting nonetheless. Also MS is extremely prevalent at high latitudes compared to the tropics. Why? We know vitamin D has a role in protecting the insulation of the nerves, so maybe that's the mechanism. Anecdotal, but the one person I know with MS is white as the snow and avoids the sun like it's the devil.