Research shows that women who get lots of sun live longer than those who avoid it, and that avoiding sunlight too much may be as risky as smoking
Sunbathing is said to be good for your health, but some people avoid exposure to the sun by applying sunscreen or refraining from going outside to avoid sunburn and skin aging caused by
Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for all-cause mortality: results from the Melanoma in Southern Sweden cohort - Lindqvist - 2014 - Journal of Internal Medicine - Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12251
Why do sunbathers live longer than those who avoid the sun? | ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160321135854.htm
Here's something unexpected: Sunbathers live longer - Harvard Health
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heres-something-unexpected-sunbathers-live-longer-201606069738
Exposure to sunlight is known to promote the production of calcium and vitamin D, which contributes to immune function, but it is also a risk factor for melanoma .
A research team from Karolinska University Hospital and Lund University in Sweden followed up on 29,518 women living in Sweden for approximately 20 years to investigate the relationship between sun exposure and risk of death.
The first study was conducted between 1990 and 1992. Participants aged 25 to 64 and with no history of melanoma were asked to complete a questionnaire about factors such as sun exposure, marital status, education level, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity. A similar study was conducted between 2000 and 2002. The study used the 2011 National Population Register and Cause of Death Register to determine who died and their history of melanoma.
Analysis of the data confirmed that 2,545 of the 29,518 participants died during the study. Women who had more sun exposure were less likely to die than women who had less sun exposure. Active sun exposure in women was associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and other non-cancer diseases, but was also associated with a relatively increased risk of death from cancer.
The group with the most sun exposure had twice the risk of dying compared with the group with the most sun avoidance, and their life expectancy was 0.6 to 2.1 years longer than the other groups. The life expectancy of non-smokers who avoided the sun was roughly the same as that of smokers with the most sun exposure, according to the research team.
This study is an observational study, and the mechanism by which exposure to sunlight reduces the risk of death has not been proven. Therefore, it is possible that lifestyle and other factors common to people who get a lot of sun exposure may have contributed to the reduction in the risk of death. In addition, the study subjects were women living in Sweden, which is at a low latitude, and the results may be different for people living in mid- or high-latitude regions.
But the team believes that avoiding sunlight could increase the risk of death by leading to inadequate production of vitamin D, reducing the production of
Lead author Dr Pelle Lindqvist of Karolinska University Hospital said: 'Our results suggest that smokers, who are the group with the highest amount of sun exposure, have a life expectancy similar to that of non-smokers who avoid sunlight, and that sun avoidance is a risk factor comparable to that of smoking. Guidelines recommending sun avoidance may do more harm than good for health.'
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