By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–
Earlier this year I published, with the assistance of Dr. William B Grant, a paper entitled “Does Vitamin D Deficiency Contribute to Erectile Dysfunction (ED)?”[i] In that paper, we made the point that low levels of vitamin D correlated to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. For example, Giovannucci and colleagues showed that men with the lowest levels of serum vitamin D had a 2.4-times-increased risk of heart attack.[ii] ED is often an important indicator of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a powerful early marker for asymptomatic CVD.Erection is a vascular event, and ED is often a vascular disease caused by endothelial damage and subsequent inhibition of vasodilation—the expansion of arterial width that is necessary for optimal blood flow throughout the body, including the penis.
One of the interesting findings of the literature search was the fact that sunlight stimulates vasodilation through a mechanism that has nothing to do with vitamin D. That mechanism is the production of nitric oxide (NO) by exposure to another spectrum of light, the non-vitamin-D-producing light called UVA. (NO is a well-known, potent vasodilator). Whole-body irradiation with UVA has been shown to lower blood pressure by stimulating NO production in the skin, which then significantly lowers blood pressure. These increased NO levels are accompanied by increased vasodilation and blood flow in the brachial artery.[iii] It is likely that such vasodilation may also enhance sexual function in men by increasing vasodilation and blood flow in the penile arteries, thereby reducing ED. If sunlight exposure causes vasodilation that lowers blood pressure, there is no reason to doubt that it would be a tremendous asset to men with ED. Both sunlight and tanning beds produce high quantities of UVA light. Perhaps research should be conducted to see whether Cialis or UVA exposure would cause the quickest relief of the ED condition. 🙂
One of our guests at our health resort (National Institute of Health and Fitness, http://www.nihf.com/ spent four weeks with us and sunbathed almost every day. His blood pressure decreased from 159/97 to 125/54 and leveled off at 115/70 when he returned home. I believe that the UVA light in the sunlight, and the subsequent production of NO, was greatly responsible for his blood pressure normalization. Now, I’m curious about his love life but probably won’t discuss it with him unless he volunteers!
At our health resort, we consider safe sun an integral part of our program. Call me at 888-798-6443 if you’d like to discuss this and other health benefits such as weight loss and reversal of diabetes.
[i] Sorenson M, Grant WB. Does vitamin D deficiency contribute to erectile dysfunction? Dermato-Endocrinology 4;2:128–136.
[ii] Giovannucci E, Liu Y, Hollis BW, Rimm EB. 25-hydroxy-vitamin D and risk of myocardial infarction in
men. Ann Intern Med 2008; 168: 1174-80.
[iii] Opländer C, Volkmar CM, Paunel-Görgülü A, van Faassen EE, et al. Whole body UVA irradiation lowers systemic blood pressure by release of nitric oxide from intracutaneous photolabile nitric oxide derivates. Circ Res. 2009;105:1031–40.