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Sunbaker, by Max Dupain. Exposure of skin to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight presents both positive and negative health effects. On the positive side, UV exposure enables the synthesis of vitamin D 3, which is essential for bone health [1] and potentially plays a role in inhibiting certain cancers.
Some drugs have a photosensitizing effect. Properties of natural or artificial light that may abnormally affect people include: Timing of light (upset of normal circadian rhythms, seasonal affective disorder, sleep disorders) Intensity of light (photophobia, sunburn, skin cancer) [1] [2] [3] Wavelength of light (in lupus, urticaria)
Basal-cell carcinoma is a common skin cancer and occurs mainly in fair-skinned patients with a family history of this cancer. Sunlight is a factor in about two-thirds of these cancers; therefore, doctors recommend sunscreens with at least SPF 30.
Cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma is the second-most common cancer of the skin (after basal-cell carcinoma, but more common than melanoma). It usually occurs in areas exposed to the sun. Sunlight exposure and immunosuppression are risk factors for SCC of the skin, with chronic sun exposure being the strongest environmental risk factor. [26]
Overexposure to ultraviolet radiation is known to cause skin cancer, [19] make skin age and wrinkle faster, [20] mutate DNA, [21] and impair the immune system. [22] Frequent tanning bed use triples the risk of developing melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, according to a 2010 study.
For younger men, this type of cancer is the most deadly; for younger women, colorectal cancer comes in third behind breast and lung cancer, the National Cancer Institute states on its website.
Upon exposure to UVB rays, melanocytes will produce melanin, a pigment that gives the skin its color tone. However, UVB will cause the formation of freckles and dark spots, both of which are symptoms of photoaging. With constant exposure to UVB rays, signs of photoaging might appear and precancerous lesions or skin cancer may develop.
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