Adequate sun exposure no guard against low vitamin D

[mensimageconsultant]

Maybe there is value to sartorial horrors such as men's shorts, sandals, and mesh shirts. If you don't already get some outdoor exercise, that probably is what you should do.

Adequate sun exposure no guard against low vitamin D

 

[dtmt]

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

Maybe there is value to sartorial horrors such as men's shorts, sandals, and mesh shirts. If you don't already get some outdoor exercise, that probably is what you should do. Adequate sun exposure no guard against low vitamin D
Huh? The article you posted said that it won't necessarily help. Why not just rely on foods and supplements for Vitamin D intake? That also has the added benefit of not having a shoe leather face at age 40.

 

[whodini]

Or melonoma...

Unless you seriously did not have the resources to buy supplments or drink milk, I can't understand why any medical professional would recommend extended periods of sunlight to boost Vit D levels.

 

[fareau]

This is a contentious topic between dermatologists and endocrinologists. I would be curious to read the original article, if it has been published, since I have read quite a few articles that would contradict their findings.

With the recent revision of the normal reference range of vitamin D, the number of people who are diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency has blossomed into almost epidemic numbers. It's really impressive. Vitamin D is a very interesting hormone and I think we are just beginning to have an appreciation for the myriad of functions it serves, beyond the known relationship with bone mineral density.

 

[Jared]

The sudden medical status quo in Canada is that vitamin D prevents the cancers that are hard to treat, while skin cancer is easy. So the advice this summer is more or less to stop wearing sunscreen. If this Hawaii study says that won't be enough, then I have no idea what we'll do. (Food in general is considered a poor source of vitamin D.)

 

[mensimageconsultant]

An abstract is located here, though it doesn't answer questions about ethnicity (darker skin needs more sunlight for vitamin D production), how the participants were dressed, etc. "This implies that the common clinical recommendation to allow sun exposure to the hands and face for 15 minutes may not ensure vitamin D sufficiency" in the article itself implies that the participants were often fully dressed. Hence, the recommendation to exercise outside, obviously with more skin exposed than if one were, say, dressed for business. (For most people, 15 minutes of almost full exposure won't cause skin damage, yet it will lead to much more vitamin D production than just exposing the hands and face.)

Supplemental Vitamin D3 can boost vitamin D levels, but it's not very effective in everyone. Not everyone consumes the foods with fortified vitamin D, which probably is less effective anyway. Never using sunscreen in Canada might not be so bad for the skin, but closer to the equator, that would be foolish.

 

[Bandwagonesque]

If I know I'm going to be exposed to the sun for more than 20-30 minutes, I put on sunscreen. Otherwise, I soak it up. I'm still one pale mofo. I take about 1400 IU of Vitamin D daily, in addition to what I get from milk and dairy.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by Jared

The sudden medical status quo in Canada is that vitamin D prevents the cancers that are hard to treat, while skin cancer is easy. So the advice this summer is more or less to stop wearing sunscreen. If this Hawaii study says that won't be enough, then I have no idea what we'll do. (Food in general is considered a poor source of vitamin D.)
A: Who the **** are you? B: Would you mind telling my father who almost died from melonoma that "skin cancer is easy?" C: A study from Australia would do just fine, considering they lead the world in melanoma. Jesus Christ, is this what I have to look forward to with patients?

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by whodini

A: Who the **** are you? B: Would you mind telling my father who almost died from melonoma that "skin cancer is easy?" C: A study from Australia would do just fine, considering they lead the world in melanoma.
A. A lay Canadian who reads between the lines; of, for example, the Canadian Cancer Society's press releases: http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/me...gId-en,00.html B. I'm sorry to hear about your anecdote. I'm talking statistically: compared to breast, prostate, colon, etc. I hope you learn enough about statistics to explain them to your patients. C. They have sunlight in Australia.