Our moment in the sun I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in the lab where a group of researchers "discovered" that sunlight isn't pure evil as so many doctors (not to mention sunscreen manufacturers) would like us to believe. I can just imagine their jaws hitting the floor when they saw that sunlight actually decreases the mortality rate in cases of colon, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer. It makes me chuckle just thinking about it. The study was conducted by doctors from the National Cancer Institute and published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The researchers examined deaths from ovarian, colon, breast (in women only), and prostate cancers in 24 U.S. states between 1984 and 1995 to determine the impact of sunlight on the diseases. I have no doubt these "new" findings startled them immensely: They found that the sunniest areas had significantly lower death rates from each of the four types of cancer listed above. People whose jobs require a great deal of sun exposure had lower rates of colon cancer mortality, and women in these types of positions had fewer breast cancer deaths. The doctors posit that vitamin D is responsible for the cancer-protective effect of sunlight, since the sun's vital rays enable the skin to manufacture vitamin D. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that. Still, I guess just having these guys finally admit that sunshine might be good for you is a step in the right direction. Helping you bask in the glow of good health,
Dr. William Campbell Douglass II, MD
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