OUR FRIEND, THE SUN

Following is the exact abstract of an article published in the February 2, 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It is an astounding piece of information that very few of us would even hear about. It seems that stories like this don't attract as much attention as ones that describe the horrors of sun exposure.

It seems to be "common knowledge" that our sun is a danger to our health, especially our skin health. It's true, too much sun, like too much of anything, can be harmful. Heck, even too much water can kill you. The point of this article is that SUNLIGHT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR US. It seems that people with melanoma (the most serious, life-threatening form of skin cancer) actually experience better survival rates when they are exposed to the sun's rays.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom that tells us to slather on the sunscreens and cover every inch of exposed skin.

The cat's out of the bag. The sun is our friend. Perhaps the makers of sunscreens would find this disquieting and maybe that's why this hasn't popped up in the media. Our terror of the sun should be replaced by a healthy respect. I think that's a good thing.

It seems that sunshine has been given a bad name. Even television advertising is encouraging all of us to coat ourselves with the newest sun blocking chemicals. I advise everyone I know to be cautious about using those products. First, they may actually be part of the problem. Second, they can give a user a false sense of security. The advertising suggests that you are PROTECTED once you're buttered up. That can easily lead to overexposure. And, as I said above - overexposure seems to be the real culprit when it comes to UV rays and skin problems.

Wouldn't it be an odd thing if natural sunlight was better for us than all the antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs our health system throws at us? If free sunlight could actually help us who'd buy the drugs - and who'd apply the sun blockers?

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 3, 195-199, February 2, 2005. Marianne Berwick, Bruce K. Armstrong, Leah Ben-Porat, Judith Fine, Anne Kricker, Carey Eberle, Raymond Barnhill

Background: Melanoma incidence and survival are positively associated, both geographically and temporally. Solar elastosis, a histologic indicator of cutaneous sun damage, has also been positively associated with melanoma survival. Although these observations raise the possibility that sun exposure increases melanoma survival, they could be explained by an association between incidence and early detection of melanoma. We therefore evaluated the association between measures of skin screening and death from cutaneous melanoma.

Methods: Case subjects (n = 528) from a population-based study of cutaneous melanoma were followed for an average of more than 5 years. Data, including measures of intermittent sun exposure, perceived awareness of the skin, skin self-screening, and physician screening, were collected during in-person interviews and review of histopathology and histologic parameters (i.e., solar elastosis, Breslow thickness, and mitoses) for all of the lesions. Competing risk models were used to compute risk of death (hazard ratios [HRs], with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) from melanoma. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Sunburn, high intermittent sun exposure, skin awareness histories, and solar elastosis were statistically significantly inversely associated with death from melanoma. Melanoma thickness, mitoses, ulceration, and anatomic location on the head and neck were statistically significantly positively associated with melanoma death. In a multivariable competing risk analysis, skin awareness (with versus without, HR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3 to 0.9, P = .022) and solar elastosis (present versus absent, HR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2 to 0.8, P = .009) were strongly and independently associated with melanoma death after adjusting for Breslow thickness, mitotic index, and head and neck location, which were also independently associated with death.

Conclusion: Sun exposure is associated with increased survival from melanoma.

Affiliations of authors: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (MB); University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (BKA, AK); Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (LBP); University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT (JF); Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY (CE); University of Miami, Miami, FL (RB)

Correspondence to: Marianne Berwick, PhD, MPH, University of New Mexico, Department of Internal Medicine, New Mexico Cancer Research Facility, MSC08 4630, Room 103A, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 (mberwick@salud.unm.edu).