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This article has come up before and might interest you. [1] tl;dr: exposure to sunlight without sunscreen has benefits for cardiovascular health - and the kind

This article has come up before and might interest you. [1] tl;dr: exposure to sunlight without sunscreen has benefits for cardiovascular health - and the kinds of cancer you get from direct exposure to sunlight on a regular basis (basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas) are almost never fatal. The benefits to CV health significantly outweigh the increased risk of these carcinomas. Melanomas only account for 1-3% of skin cancers and are less likely in outdoor workers and tanned people than they are in indoor workers. > “The risk factor for melanoma appears to be intermittent sunshine and sunburn, especially when you’re young,” says Weller. “But there’s evidence that long-term sun exposure associates with less melanoma.” Makes sense, humans probably wouldn't have made it this far without going outside. [1] https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science/ https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/sunscreen-sun-...

bearmode 4y ago
Without sunscreen I burn in just a few minutes and have painful skin for the next few days. I'm okay thanks, I'll keep using it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ajb 4y ago
  Resistance to sunburn increases exponentially with regular exposure, and without it falls back to your genetic base level. That's not hyperbole, UV treatment in medical facilities have to start with seconds of treatment which is increased by a percentage each time until you get to effective levels. That's not to recommend that you try doing that yourself, just a weird fact I learned. its hard to calibrate sun exposure. But theoretically starting from very sensitive skin isn't a barrier.
  - refurb 4y ago
    And UV damage is cumulative as well. Even if you ignore melanoma, there are several non-cancerous or pre-cancerous skin conditions from sun exposure. If you go to Asia where most women avoid any sun exposure at all (up to wearing masks and gloves) you’ll note there skin looks amazing even into their 50’s. And the few minutes of exposure you get each day is usually enough to provide vitamin D. I think it’s like 12 min of upper body exposure in moderately intense sunlight is enough.
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      The point the article makes is that it's not just about vitamin D but also nitric oxide synthesized which lower blood pressure and improve CV health in excess of whatever risk you accrue from the sun exposure. It's important to consider of course that different races age differently. Is it masks and gloves, or is it being of the local ethnicity? Not getting any sun at all is really bad, after all, since as the article shows, vitamin D supplementation is quite ineffective.
    - watwut 4y ago
      > If you go to Asia where most women avoid any sun exposure at all (up to wearing masks and gloves) you’ll note there skin looks amazing even into their 50’s. I kind of resent the idea that this is model to strive for. Ok, you look somewhat better, but you also pay price of constantly limiting activities and having to be careful what you do ... all the time.
      - sokoloff 4y ago
        I didn’t read it being cited here so much as a model to strive for, but rather as strong evidence that there is UV damage to skin even at a sub-cancerous level.
        refurb 4y ago
        Exactly. I don’t avoid the sun to that extent, but it’s pretty obvious that every strong sun exposure is a little bit more damage each time. There was an interesting paper that show a woman who applied a sun protecting lotion to her face everyday for the last 30 years of her life. But she didn’t apply it to her neck. The difference is very stark at 70 years old. The skin on her face was wrinkled but her neck look absolutely worse in terms of age and skin damage.
- samatman 4y ago
  There's no point in talking about sunscreen without reference to skin type. You're probably a Type 1, which doesn't tan in any significant way. Anyone in the 2 and 3 range can build significant sun tolerance by being careful, 4 and 5s don't generally need sunscreen. Jury is out on skin cancer, Bantu people in Africa don't all die of melanoma, so clearly melanin is doing a lot of work here.
- ReGenGen 4y ago
  Just use reef-safe sunscreen... and help- protect what makes Hawaii & the tropics amazing https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-reef-safe-sunscreens/ https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-reef-safe-sunscreens/ This has been well known in the dive community for a while, the NEWs here is that beach-bodies need to use reef-safe sunscreen too.
nradov 4y ago
This shouldn't be down voted. Regular sun exposure is correlated with lower all-cause mortality. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12251 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12251 It reduces blood pressure. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11567-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11567-5
- arcticbull 4y ago
  Yep, that's exactly what the article I linked says too haha. Folks out here worried about how wrinkly their skin might look at 75 when nobody cares instead of cardiovascular health though :)

bearmode 4y ago

Without sunscreen I burn in just a few minutes and have painful skin for the next few days. I'm okay thanks, I'll keep using it.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ajb 4y ago
Resistance to sunburn increases exponentially with regular exposure, and without it falls back to your genetic base level. That's not hyperbole, UV treatment in medical facilities have to start with seconds of treatment which is increased by a percentage each time until you get to effective levels. That's not to recommend that you try doing that yourself, just a weird fact I learned. its hard to calibrate sun exposure. But theoretically starting from very sensitive skin isn't a barrier.
- refurb 4y ago
  And UV damage is cumulative as well. Even if you ignore melanoma, there are several non-cancerous or pre-cancerous skin conditions from sun exposure. If you go to Asia where most women avoid any sun exposure at all (up to wearing masks and gloves) you’ll note there skin looks amazing even into their 50’s. And the few minutes of exposure you get each day is usually enough to provide vitamin D. I think it’s like 12 min of upper body exposure in moderately intense sunlight is enough.
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    The point the article makes is that it's not just about vitamin D but also nitric oxide synthesized which lower blood pressure and improve CV health in excess of whatever risk you accrue from the sun exposure. It's important to consider of course that different races age differently. Is it masks and gloves, or is it being of the local ethnicity? Not getting any sun at all is really bad, after all, since as the article shows, vitamin D supplementation is quite ineffective.
  - watwut 4y ago
    > If you go to Asia where most women avoid any sun exposure at all (up to wearing masks and gloves) you’ll note there skin looks amazing even into their 50’s. I kind of resent the idea that this is model to strive for. Ok, you look somewhat better, but you also pay price of constantly limiting activities and having to be careful what you do ... all the time.
    - sokoloff 4y ago
      I didn’t read it being cited here so much as a model to strive for, but rather as strong evidence that there is UV damage to skin even at a sub-cancerous level.
      - refurb 4y ago
        Exactly. I don’t avoid the sun to that extent, but it’s pretty obvious that every strong sun exposure is a little bit more damage each time. There was an interesting paper that show a woman who applied a sun protecting lotion to her face everyday for the last 30 years of her life. But she didn’t apply it to her neck. The difference is very stark at 70 years old. The skin on her face was wrinkled but her neck look absolutely worse in terms of age and skin damage.
samatman 4y ago
There's no point in talking about sunscreen without reference to skin type. You're probably a Type 1, which doesn't tan in any significant way. Anyone in the 2 and 3 range can build significant sun tolerance by being careful, 4 and 5s don't generally need sunscreen. Jury is out on skin cancer, Bantu people in Africa don't all die of melanoma, so clearly melanin is doing a lot of work here.
ReGenGen 4y ago
Just use reef-safe sunscreen... and help- protect what makes Hawaii & the tropics amazing https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-reef-safe-sunscreens/ https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-reef-safe-sunscreens/ This has been well known in the dive community for a while, the NEWs here is that beach-bodies need to use reef-safe sunscreen too.

nradov 4y ago

This shouldn't be down voted. Regular sun exposure is correlated with lower all-cause mortality. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12251 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12251 It reduces blood pressure. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11567-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11567-5

arcticbull 4y ago
Yep, that's exactly what the article I linked says too haha. Folks out here worried about how wrinkly their skin might look at 75 when nobody cares instead of cardiovascular health though :)