skin

The Addictive Tan

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Woman in tanning bedWhat if you were in business that sold a popular product that was addictive?  Cigarettes and tobacco you are thinking, right?  Maybe so, but what if simply being out in the sun was addictive?  What if the reason indoor tanning salons are so popular was because getting a tan was addictive?  Crazy, right?  Nope, that’s exactly what tanning is, addictive; according to the latest research published in the journal Addiction Biology.

Dermatologists have suspected that tanning was addictive and this suspicion was what led to the new research.  The researchers say that dermatologists would remove skin cancers like a basil cell carcinoma only to observe the patient go right back to their tanning habit.  Many patients report symptoms consistent with addictive behavior like not being able to stop tanning.

This latest research comes from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.  The study used frequent tanners who used sunbeds at least twice a week.   Each of the tanners used the same tanning bed twice during the study.  Once where they received the full dose of UV radiation and the other time with the UV radiation filtered with out the tanners knowledge.  In both sessions, researchers monitored brain activity and found that with full UV radiation, the areas of the brain associated with addiction were activated.  The same was not true when the UV radiation was filtered.

Additionally, when the tanners were interviewed after each session, they reported a lowered desire to tan after the sessions with full VU radiation, indicating that they felt satiated by their session.  After the session with the UV radiation filtered out, they reported the same level of desire for tanning as when they arrived.

This latest research builds on a study in 2004 at Wake Forest University.  In that study, researchers found that when skin cell cultures were exposed to UV radiation, they produced melanocyte stimulating hormone, which contains endorphins which acts as a narcotic on the nervous system.

This helps to explain the effectiveness of UV light therapy for people suffering from Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD).  However, in those treatments, only the head and face are exposed to the UV light.  In a tanning bed, the entire body is exposed and often for twice the recommended length of time.  30 million people tan indoors annually and 71% of them are women between the ages of 16-29.  While all skin cancer diagnosis are on the rise, melanoma, the most deadly, is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in 25-29 year olds.

While dermatologists agree that frequent tanners should reduce their exposure to UV radiation, most would like to see more research before recommending traditional therapies designed to treat addictions.

Additional Sources:

New York Times
ABC News

About

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.

Sunscreen Label Changes Improve Transparancy

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New Sunscreen Label ExampleConfusion about how much protection your sunscreen provides is widespread, but the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday took steps to make product labels more transparent in the information they provide starting in 2012.  There is much misunderstanding about what SPF really means and what rays do sunscreens really block.

The fact is that sunscreens don’t “block” the sun’s rays.   This is why the term “sunblock” will no longer be allowed on product labels under the new rules.  Additionally, the labeling of an SPF greater than 50 will not be allowed because there is no evidence of additional sun protection beyond SPF 50.  SPF or Sun Protection Factor is a measure of how much ultra-violet (UV) radiation is required to produce sunburn on protected skin versus unprotected skin.  The higher the number the greater the protection.

The myth about SPF is that it measures the time of sun exposure.  In fact it measures the amount of sun exposure which can vary due to time of day, latitude, altitude, skin type and so forth.  SPF only gives you a relative comparison of protection between products.

With the new labeling requirements, the F.D.A. hopes to clear up misconceptions like these among consumers.   Skin can be damaged by two types of solar rays, ultra-violet A (UVA) and ultra-violet B (UVB).  Some products can screen one type of ray but not the other.  Under the new rules, products that block both UVA and UVB rays will carry the designation “Broad Spectrum” along with the SPF rating number.  Products that are not Broad Spectrum, or are Broad Spectrum and have an SPF rating below 15 will be required to carry a warning “stating that the product has not been shown to help prevent skin cancer or early skin aging”.

In addition to eliminating the term “sunblock”, the terms “waterproof” and “sweat proof” will also be eliminated because they overstate the effectiveness of the product and no sunscreen on the market is waterproof.  The new rules allow for the term “Water Resistant” along with the number of minutes that the product has been tested to remain resistant to water and sweat exposure.

Ultimately, the F.D.A. is recommending the use of a Broad Spectrum sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15 applied to exposed skin every 1 1/2 – 2 hours, in addition to wearing protective clothing, a wide brimmed hat, sun glasses with 100% UVA and UVB protection, and minimize direct sun exposure between 10am and 4pm.

Let’s also remember however that the body manufactures Vitamin D from sun exposure, so before you go overboard with the sunscreen, remember that a little sun exposure is also healthy too.

About

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.

Why is Wintertime Cold and Flu Season?

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Did you ever notice that most people get colds in the winter?  Some people even say that’s why its called a “cold” – because you get it in cold weather.   As early as the 1960′s, British researcher Dr. R. Edgar Hope-Simpson theorized that a “seasonal factor” was responsible for the annual outbreaks of influenza following the winter solstice and the disappearance of it after the summer solstice.   This has been a long standing mystery to the medical community, since it is well documented that the people are exposed to the influenza virus year-round.  Why would we be more susceptible to the virus during winter?

Research also shows that vitamin D levels are at their lowest of the year during winter months and highest during the summer months.  Is there a connection?  New evidence is beginning to link the two.

The name “vitamin D” is actually a bit misleading, because vitamin D is actually a hormone in the same family of hormones as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol.   These types of hormones play an important role in the function of the nucleolus of our cells.   Vitamin D’s role in the body’s absorption of calcium for bone growth, but its only recently that scientists have discovered the link between vitamin D and our cell function.   The latest research, published last year, links vitamin D and our body’s immune system.

While many people take vitamin C to help their immune system, there is little evidence to support its effectiveness.  Vitamin D however, has a growing base of evidence in its role related to the immune system.  Some of the latest research was published in the February 23, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. In that report, researchers studied nearly 19,000 people and found that people with lower levels of vitamin D in their blood were up to 40% more likely to have experienced a cold.  The connection was even more dramatic for those who suffered from asthma or other respiratory disease.

When most people think of vitamin D, they think milk.  However, cow’s milk contains little to no natural vitamin D.  Actually, the U.S. Government began requiring the fortification of cow’s milk with vitamin D as early as the 1930′s in its efforts to combat the bone deforming disease rickets.  That’s how the vitamin D gets into milk.  While there are other dietary sources that do contain natural vitamin D, the best source is to make it yourself.

Your skin synthesizes vitamin D upon exposure to the Ultra Violet B rays of the sun, which are greatest during the middle part of the day.   For people living near the equator, exposing your skin to 15 minutes of sunlight twice a week is enough to generate the vitamin D your body needs to stay healthy.  The farther away from the equator you live, the more exposure time you need because of the indirectness of the suns rays.  So what happens in wintertime?  We stay indoors more, we bundle up in clothing when we do go out and the suns rays are even more direct, limiting our exposure to the UVB rays that produce vitamin D.

The link between wintertime colds and vitamin D is getting stronger isn’t it?  While the researchers do want to study vitamin D’s effects on colds in some clinical trials, it seems worth it to me in the meantime to go outside and get some sunshine each day to help your body manufacture some vitamin D.   It might be just what you need to get you through this cold and flu season.  As for all of the warnings about avoiding the sun, that’s a topic for another blog post that you can read about here.

Sources:
Risk Of Colds And Flu May Be Increased By Vitamin D Deficiency

What Is Vitamin D? What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin D?

Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D

The Vitamin D Cure

Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D

Vitamin D

About

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.

Some Common Medications Can Increase Risk of Sunburn

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The skin is the largest organ of your body.  As such, it is affected by the stuff we put into our bodies and onto our skin. Previously, we’ve discussed how some sunblocks contain ingredients that breakdown in UV light (the spectrum that causes sunburns and skin cancers) and actually promote the skin burning.  However, not much is discussed about the foods that we eat or the medications we take and how they affect the skin.

The skin reacts to light primarally in two ways.  The first is called a photoallergic reaction where ingredients in a medication that has been injested react with the UV rays of sunlight and create a response in the body’s immune system – causing an allergic reation that appears in the skin as a rash, sunburn or hives.  This reaction usually begins after about 12-24 hours after exposure to sunlight.

The second reaction is called a phototoxic reaction.  In this situation, sunlight excites molecules in the drug itself which directly causes the skin to burn.  This reaction begins almost immediately when the skin is exposed to sunlight.

The body’s main protection to UV radiation from the sun is a pigment produced in the skin called melanin.  Melanin effectively blocks up to 99.9% of UV sunlight and dissipates it as heat.  This is way better than any sunscreen – and has no side effects when exposed to sunlight as some sunscreens do (see a previous post here).

This interests me in exploring ways to increase the body’s ability to produce more melanin, a process called melongenesis.   The skin produces melinin out of an amino acid called tyrosine.   Tyrosine can be found in high protein foods like fish, chicken, milk, cheese, yogurt.  Also, whole grains of wheat and oat, fruits of avacado and bananna are good dietary sources of tyrosine.  Finally, almonds, lima beans, sesame and pumpkin seeds contain tyrosine as well.   I’m wondering if boosting dietary tyrosine, especially during summer (sunbathing months) can help protect our skin with its natural production of melanin.

Here are some links:

List of medicines that create photosensitivity

List of foods that promote melanin production

About

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.

Sunscreens and Our Worship of The Sun

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The human love affair with Earth’s nearest star – the Sun, has had an on-again, off-again cycle through history that rivals some of the star-studded headlines of the grocery store tabloids. In ancient times, the sun was a central part of the religions of the Egyptians, Greeks and Peruvians. Having sun tanned skin was a good thing then.

Later, as societies developed systems to distinguish social class, the color of the skin was a determining factor in what class you were in. Those with tanned skin were the laborers working out in the fields, while the upper class remained indoors away from the sun or under fashionable parasols and wide brimmed hats. Having a sun tan during these times was to be avoided in order to ensure that you were associated with the upper class – a group of people who were generally Vitamin D deficient and suffering from rickets because of their low sun exposure.

Today the reverse is true. In our society, having a golden tan means that you have the ability to spend lots of time lounging in the sun, “working on your tan”, while the laborers of today are indoors in factories, warehouses, and offices under artificial light. A tan has the implication of health, youth and prosperity.

But it’s all relative to the society you live in and your culture’s definition of beauty, that defines the status of your love affair with the Sun. In American culture, we’re actually in the middle of a love-hate relationship or rather a love-fear relationship with the Sun. We love the tan, but fear the future probability of skin cancers from that tan. Well, thank the sun-gods for sunscreen which allows us to have our tan and age with it too – or so we hope.

How do you know whether your sunscreen is actually protecting you from your fear of the sun? According to a new study from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), most of the commercial sunscreen products on the market do not meet their standards for sun protection and health safety. Only 15% of the 952 sunscreens they analyzed were effective in reducing exposure to UVA and UVB radiation and did not contain ingredients known to be human health hazards. Here’s the big suprise, the best selling brands were some of the worst products on the market!

Some dermatologists have criticized the study saying that it lacks scientific rigor and that the group’s rating system is arbitrary. Perhaps, but the interesting point that the EWG reveals is the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has wasted the last 30 years debating sunscreen effectiveness and safety and has failed to implement any mandatory standards, even though Congress passed a law in 2006 requiring them to do so.

This means that sunscreen manufacturers are free to make exaggerated claims of effectiveness with minimal product quality assurance. The American College of Preventative Medicine in an article published in 1998 concluded that there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against the use of sunscreen as protection from skin cancers. They do however, recommend some conventional sun avoidance measures like wearing protective clothing and avoiding direct sunlight during peak times of the day for long periods.

While I don’t fear the sun, I do respect it. Personally, I don’t typically apply a sunscreen, unless I’ll be in an exposed area for a long period. I prefer sitting in a shaded area while receiving the benefit of the sun through reflected sunlight where the ultra-violet rays are less intense, wearing a hat and protective clothing. But for my next sun-bathing experience, I’ll be looking at my sunscreen brand and checking how it ranked on the EWG’s list.

For more healthy sun habits, check out these links:
http://www.skinbiology.com/morehealthysuntanning.html

http://jhcpan.nutrition.tufts.edu/consumers/sun_exposure.html

About

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.