Sunlight - Strengthening the Immune System

Sunlight

Sunlight also contains harmful radiation, and too much exposure to the sun's rays over time can cause squamous-cell carcinoma, a skin cancer developed by more than 100,000 people in the U.S. each year. While only about 2% of patients die from the disease, which is the second most common skin cancer after basal-cell carcinoma, it can prove lethal if allowed to spread. The cancer is often preceded by actinic keratoses–red, rough, and scaly spots that appear on the face, the top of the hands, or other locations where the skin is frequently exposed to the ultraviolet light from sun.

Once the skin is burned by high levels of the sun's radiation, the body becomes more susceptible to immunotoxic chemicals. Relatively small doses of ultraviolet light, for example the amount received from a mild sunburn, can suppress the immune response against bacteria and yeast infections. Sunscreen lotions containing the B vitamin PABA, and the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E, provide the best protection against radiation from the sun.