Can the Sun Help You Avoid MS?

Jun 12, 2012 by LaffeyYacko

We’ve spent the past few decades discussing how important it is to stay out of the sun. We completely understand the risks connected with it and do every little thing we can think of to keep it away from us. We choose the highest SPF sunscreens we could find and then slather on layers and layers of it. We use giant hats. We put on long sleeves in addition to pant legs even in the warmest of heat. We do our best to stay only in the shady areas–some have even started carrying parasols and umbrellas all around so that their skin never comes into contact with direct sunlight. Now we’re discovering that the sun can sometimes be beneficial! Can sunshine actually help you?

A new study has been completed and it demonstrates that people who allow some time in direct sunlight aren’t as likely to get MS as the people who do everything they can to keep out of the sun. The study was originally done to find out how Vitamin D affects the progression of Multiple Sclerosis. It didn’t take long for them to realize that it is the Vitamin D our bodies make after exposure to sunlight that is at the center of the issue.

We’ve known for a very long time that sunlight and Vitamin D can hinder the way the immune system plays a part in MS. This particular study, though, is focused on how sunshine affects the people who are starting to experience the very earliest of MS symptoms. The true goal is to observe how sunlight and Vitamin D may affect the symptoms that are now known as “precursors” to the actual disease symptoms.

Unfortunately, there are not all that many ways to truly quantify the study’s hypothesis. The goal of the study is to find out if sunlight can actually prevent the disease. Sadly, the only real way to quantify if this is correct is to monitor a person over his or her entire life. This is the only way to effectively assess the currently existent levels of Vitamin D in a person’s blood before the symptoms of MS start to show themselves. The way it appears today, and has stood (widely recognized) for a long time is that people who live in warm and sunny climates and who get more exposure to direct sunshine are less likely to develop MS than those who live in dark or cold climates and get very little exposure to the sun.

There is also the astonishingly critical dilemma of the fact that increased amounts of exposure to the sun increase your risk of getting skin cancer. So, in an attempt to keep one particular disease from setting in, you’ll probably be inadvertently causing another. Of course, skin cancer-if caught early on-has an improved possibility of being cured. MS still isn’t curable.

So what should you do: risk skin cancer or risk MS? Ask a family doctor whether or not this is an excellent idea. Your doctor will explore your current state of health and fitness, your health history and even into your genetics to help you figure out if you even sit at risk for the disease at all. From here your doctor can make it easier to determine the best course of action.

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