The Sun Nazis strike again

It’s summertime, and the livin’s easy

That is, unless you’re the poor doctor who’s out of a job because you recommended getting a little SUNSHINE!

According to a recent edition of The Miami Herald, it seems the “Sun Nazis” (my name for them, not the Herald’s) have won yet another victory – their biggest, of course, was the brainwashing of an entire people (Americans) into believing that they’ll be fried to a cancerous crisp if they don’t shell out for sunscreen and slather it on themselves in copious quantities. But I digress.

This time, they’ve successfully singled out and forced Dr. Michael Holick, a well-known authority on skin, UV light, and disease, to resign his post at the dermatology department of the prestigious Boston University medical school. Why? Because he dared to write a book called The UV Advantage, in which he stated the importance – backed up by scads of epidemiological evidence, mind you – of sunlight exposure in the production of vitamin D.

In his book, Dr. Holick (who has published more than 100 research papers in his area of expertise) exposes the medical mainstream for what it is when it comes to the subject of sunlight: A pack of misguided fools who cause more disease than they cure! According to this expert’s findings over a lifetime on the forefront of dermatology, the health benefits of moderate sunlight exposure include the following: Stronger bones, less depression, a boost in vitamin D levels (especially in Northern climates) – even an increased resistance to prostate and breast cancers!

Hmmm. Where have you heard THAT before? I’ve only been saying it for thirty years or so! Too bad for them they can’t fire me, huh?

Of course, the American Academy of Dermatology is characterizing Dr. Holick’s recommendations as a kind of high heresy, formally labeling it “irresponsible.” However, according to both the Miami Herald piece and a similar story in the Boston Globe, some other prominent dermatologists have sounded strong support for the disgraced Doc’s arguments. One other expert in the field called him “creative and ahead of his time.”

Boy, then I must be REALLY ahead of my time!

But regardless of which of these reports you believe – Dr. Holick’s book or the sky-is-falling denunciation of the AAD – the best proof of any medical assertion comes from the field, not the page. Keep reading

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Rays of hope for preventing a major risk

You just read about a doctor who’s being forced to take the fall for singing the praises of moderate sunlight for not only overall health, but for help with certain specific health issues – like stronger bones, which can help elderly folks avoid hip and pelvis fractures in the event of a spill. And whether the American Academy of Dermatology likes it or not, many studies have proven that Vitamin D (which sunlight helps us to produce) can have exactly this bone-strengthening effect

And lo and behold, it looks like Vitamin D may also help to prevent the ACTUAL FALLS THEMSELVES, according to new body of research.

As Reuters and other online sources recently reported, an analysis of five studies on the benefits of vitamin D shows that a sufficient daily dose of this sun-vitamin can reduce the incidence of falls in those 65 or over by 22%! Not the risk of INJURY from these falls (which, as I just told you, is certainly the case), but the frequency of the spills themselves. These falls lead to 1.6 million hospital visits per year, and over 11,000 deaths – mostly in those over 75 who suffer hip fractures during a fall.

The research doesn’t prove WHY increasing vitamin D levels helped to keep people from falling as often, but it surely has to do with the stronger bones and muscles that vitamin D plays such a role in helping us maintain.

This evidence alone should convince anyone to bask in the life- giving glow of the big golden orb we all depend on for warmth and light. Do yourself a favor: If it’s sunny where you are and it has been a while since you went outside, stop what you’re doing and go get some sun – even just 10 minutes or so.

I know I’m heading outside right after I finish writing this to you.

Never playing the “fall guy” for the mainstream,

William Campbell Douglass II, MD