The human body benefits from sun exposure. And a little bit of tan protects you from the sun. Right? Wrong!
The body does indeed benefit from sun exposure. But a little bit of tan does not necessarily protect you from the sun.
Let?s see why...
The sun?s rays are a major source of vitamin D and help the body?s systems acquire much needed calcium for building hearty bones. However, most people do not need to spend large amounts of time exposed to the sun in order to get their required amount of vitamin D and shouldn?t. Because the body?s health can suffer negative effects when it?s exposed too long to the sun?s rays, especially if it?s unprotected.
Results can vary from skin and eye damage to immune system suppression and ultimately cancer, even for the young.
In a nutshell, let?s look at the basic facts about sun exposure.
There are three kinds of invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays in the sun that reaches earth: UVA, UVB, and UVC. When these rays come in contact with our skin, affects of UVA and UVB can be tans, burns and other reactions like acne and cancer. So we need to be proactive and protect our skin from harmful damage.
It is notable that the effects of all UV rays are not the same. Depending upon the season, time of day and place on the planet in relation to the sun; i.e. your altitude and latitude, the rays? intensities vary. For example, during summertime, UV rays are at their strongest. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the rays are strongest.
And close to the equator and at high altitudes (where air and cloud cover are less, resulting in increased harmful penetration of UV rays into the environment), the rays are strongest.
In order to protect ourselves from the harmful UV rays, we need to first look at the skin?s first defense, melanin, a chemical present in a variety of colors and concentrations in most people's skin that helps with defense from the sun.
Melanin reacts with UV rays and absorbs them. Or rather the rays act upon melanin, to be more specific, causing the melanin to spread out or grow, increasing its presence in response to the sun?s exposure, resulting in a sun tan.
The darker the skin color, the more melanin the skin has for protection. And ?tanning? for darker color is included here; ?color? does not have to refer to just the original skin color.
Tanning may look great on the surface, but the amount and length of time a person is exposed to the sun determines the amount of possible damage and future risk of damage that?s likely. For example, people who are exposed to the sun in huge doses like ship crews, field workers and beach surfers, are at higher risks for skin damage than indoor workers. What happens is that when the amount of UV exposure is greater than what the skin's melanin can handle, a sunburn can result. And those with lighter, fairer skin who have less melanin, absorb less UV, suffering less protection.
Research shows that UV damage from the sun is the main cause of skin cancer. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA) reported that one person dies from skin cancer every hour and one out of every five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime.
We have repeatedly heard the negative message about the damage of ultraviolet (UV) rays since the 1980?s. The message?s focal point was that about 80 percent of people?s lifetime dose of radiation was obtained by the time they reach 18 years of age, damage from the sun?s rays having had a cumulative effect throughout life. As a result, once young men and women finished with their school years, many tossed aside the concept of skin-protection, not believing there was anything that could be done from that point on to help.
However, recent studies show that the previous negative message may not be true.
A report published last year by ?Photochemistry and Photobiology? journal, said that the false information was a result of misinterpretation of published data in a mathematical sense. And another, shared by the Netherlands and the United States, concluded that by age 18, most people are only exposed to less than 25 percent of their lifetime UV dose.
SKIN TYPES & SPF
Regardless of color, skin responds that repeatedly is exposed to the sun tends to become tough and thick. The results can be leathery skin with wrinkles beyond the middle years of adulthood. What can help is using a sunscreen product with some degree of protection from UV rays, listed as the concentration on the SPF (Sun Protection Factor) numbers on the products? labels. These sunscreen products can be made with ingredients that offer protection against UVA rays and / or other ingredients to protect against UVB rays (more harmful for sun burning than UVA rays.) The best products offer ingredients for protection from both UVA and UVB rays.
The SPF listed on the product label refers to the minimum amount of UVB sunlight required with that product in order for redness to appear on the skin after that product has been applied, versus the length of time bare skin or skin without the product applied would redden. To sum that up, the basic math involved in using the SPF number is like this. The SPF number tells people how much longer they can last out in the sun with protection for their skin without being burned. For example, say a young school student would normally burn after 12 minutes of being out in the sun. He applies a sunscreen, also referred to as a sun block, with an SPF of 15. This means that he should be fine for 15 times his average amount of protection time. In other words, he would be protected for up to 3 hours.
Here is the formula for calculating:
12 minutes x 15 SPF = 180 minutes (3 hours).
So in short, sunscreen products with a high SPF provide more protection against the sun. Here is a closer look at different skin types and their preferred SPFs:
Young children ? For ages 6 months on up, you should apply a product with SPF of 15 or higher to protect against both sun tanning and burning. And the product label should list protection against both UVA and UVB rays also known as the broad-spectrum.
Skin Type - Very Fair ? This skin type generally burns quickly. Tanning is rare, or minimally not common.It is recommended that sunscreen products for this skin type contain SPF 20 to 30.
Skin Type ? Fair ? This skin type almost always burns easily. Tanning can occur some, not much. It is recommended that sunscreen products for this skin type contain SPF 12 to 20.
Skin Type ? Light ? This skin type burns in the moderate range. Tanning is normally gradual, yielding a light brown shade. It is recommended that sunscreen products for for this skin type contain SPF 8 to 12.
Skin Type ? Medium ? This skin type burns in the minimal range. Tanning happens much of the time, yielding a moderate brown shade. It is recommended that sunscreen products for this skin type contain SPF 4 to 8.
Skin Type ? Dark ? This skin type rarely burns. Tanning occurs big time, yielding a dark brown shade. It is recommended that sunscreen products for this skin type contain SPF 2 to 4.
Skin Type ? Other - This skin type includes people with moles or whose close blood relatives have a history of moles, people with skin cancer in their family histories, including melanoma, and people with very fair skin and hair. Use the highest SPF available combined with light to moderate sun exposure, as this is a high-risk category for health damage from too much UV exposure.
Note that regardless of skin type, before going out into the sun?s rays, each person should have the most suitable sunscreen product possible applied beforehand for protection against UV rays. The product should be spread fairly thick and in a uniform manner for the best possible UV protection over all areas of the skin that will be exposed to the UV rays.
This article has been written by Simon Brown. Simon runs the website http://www.naturalremedies4u.com You will find a wide range of resources and products to do with diet, health and natural remedies.
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