Edinburgh University research suggests sunlight helps reduce blood pressure, cutting heart attack and stroke risks and even prolonging life.\u00a0UV rays were found to release a compound that lowers blood pressure. \u00a0Researchers said more studies would be carried out to determine if it is time to reconsider advice on skin exposure.\u00a0Heart disease and stroke linked to high blood pressure are estimated to lead to about 80 times more deaths than those from skin cancer in the UK.<\/p>\n
Production of the pressure-reducing compound, nitric oxide, is separate from the body’s manufacture of vitamin D, which rises after exposure to sunshine.\u00a0Researchers said that until now vitamin D production had been considered the sole benefit of the sun to human health.\u00a0During the research, dermatologists studied the blood pressure of 24 volunteers under UV and heat lamps.\u00a0In one session, the volunteers were exposed to both UV rays and the heat of the lamps.\u00a0In the other, the UV rays were blocked so that only the heat affected the skin.<\/p>\n
The results showed that blood pressure dropped significantly for an hour after exposure to UV rays, but not after the heat-only sessions. \u00a0Scientists said that this suggested it was the sun’s UV rays that brought health benefits.\u00a0The volunteers’ vitamin D levels remained unaffected in both sessions.<\/p>\n
Dr Richard Weller, a senior lecturer in dermatology at Edinburgh University, said: “We suspect that the benefits to heart health of sunlight will outweigh the risk of skin cancer. \u00a0\u00a0“The work we have done provides a mechanism that might account for this, and also explains why dietary vitamin D supplements alone will not be able to compensate for lack of sunlight. \u00a0“We now plan to look at the relative risks of heart disease and skin cancer in people who have received different amounts of sun exposure. \u00a0“If this confirms that sunlight reduces the death rate from all causes, we will need to reconsider our advice on sun exposure.”<\/p>\n
That said, it is still vital the correct sun protection is used at all times to reduce risks and prevent burning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edinburgh University research suggests sunlight helps reduce blood pressure, cutting heart attack and stroke risks and even prolonging life.\u00a0UV rays were found to release a compound that lowers blood pressure. \u00a0Researchers said more studies would be carried out to determine if it is time to reconsider advice on skin exposure.\u00a0Heart disease and stroke linked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,13,14,9],"tags":[342,343,344,345],"class_list":["post-874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-50-plus-first-aid","category-first-aid","category-first-aid-at-work","category-online-learning","category-protrainings-eu","tag-exposure","tag-heat","tag-sun","tag-sun-burn"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n