Tag Archives: melanoma

Viagra Use is Associated with a Profound increase in the Risk of Melanoma.

Recently, I posted that sunlight exposure, coupled with blueberry consumption, may be a better option than Viagra in terms of overcoming erectile dysfunction (ED)[1] but never mentioned that there might be a further association with Viagra and melanoma. Research now indicates a surprising newcomer to the melanoma equation: the use of sildenafil (Viagra) increases the invasiveness of melanoma cells, which may raise the risk of the disease.[2] In a study that was begun in 2000 and reported in 2014, it was found that recent use of Viagra was associated with an 84% increased risk of melanoma and that ever use of the drug was associated with a 92% risk. And among those who had no major chronic diseases at baseline, the risk was 124% higher for those who recently used the drug and 177% higher among those who had ever used the drug.

Noxious chemicals have many side effects, but who would have guessed that an ED drug would increase the risk of melanoma? Remember also that we have presented information showing that melanoma is not caused by regular sunlight exposure, and that sunlight is in fact protective against that disease. Sunlight, therefore, is a better choice for the prevention of both melanoma and ED.

[1] http://sunlightinstitute.org/sunshine-blueberries-nitric-oxide-and-peak-sexual-function-better-than-viagra-and-cialis/

[2] Li WQ, Qureshi AA, Robinson K, Han J. Sildenafil use and increased risk of incident melanoma in US men: a prospective cohort study. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Jun;174(6):964-70C

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Sunlight Exposure Reduces the Risk of Heart Disease and does not Increase the Risk of Melanoma.

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

An article in a South-East Asia online paper[i] has some good points on sunlight and disease, but is sullied by some unfortunate quotes by two people that I have great respect for, Drs. Richard Weller and Robyn Lucas. The article starts well enough by stating that health benefits of sun outweigh the risks. A statement by Dr. Weller is then quoted: “Dermatologists only think about the skin whereas the benefits of sunlight are predominantly in general health rather than skin health,” So far, so good. He also says that vitamin D tablets will not provide the same benefits as sunlight. That is also true.

Next, Dr. Weller says that the only major problem caused by sunlight is melanoma, but melanoma is often linked to sunburns that occur in childhood. The fact is, melanoma is not caused by sunlight, as I have reiterated in this blog many times. As people have moved out of the sunlight in the U.S., the risk of melanoma has increased exponentially; outdoor workers have a fraction or the risk of melanoma as indoor workers, and melanoma has increased only in indoor workers since 1940.

Later in the article, in trying to explain why melanoma incidence is low in South-East Asia, Dr. Lucas makes this statement: “this is probably due to the culture of not being sun-seeking in South-East Asia as well as a small contribution from having generally slightly darker skin. Even though the UV levels are high in these countries close to the equator, the burden of UV-related skin diseases is low” [italics mine]. Dr. Lucas has obviously bought into the idea that sunlight causes melanoma and must look for a reason to explain the fact that high sunlight exposure in South-East Asia associates with a low risk of the disease. In the italicized statement above she has answered the question. The reason that there is a low risk of melanoma in the area is because regular, high sunlight exposure prevents melanoma.

Nevertheless, the article is well-written until the last paragraph, which quotes a Dr. Emilie van Deventer:  “Sunlight exposure for the purposes of vitamin D is better earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon when the risk of skin damage caused by UV is much lower.” Anyone who makes such a statement has not read the research; almost no vitamin D is produced in early morning or late evening. Early-morning sunlight, of course, is associated closely with slimmer bodies, but not due to vitamin D.

So, I continue to fight this battle, separating the truth from the fiction, the gold from the dross. Regular, non-burning sunlight is good for us. Enjoy it safely and do not burn.

Read the article here: http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/health/news/sunlight-good-for-the-heart-researchers-say.html

[i] http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/health/news/sunlight-good-for-the-heart-researchers-say.html

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Go Ahead and Soak up some Sun! So says Dr. Holick.

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

Go ahead and soak up some sun! So says Dr. Holick.

It is great to have Dr. Michael Holick appearing in news articles occasionally, because he helps to stop the pervasive lies that frighten the public from partaking of life-saving sun exposure. A recent article appearing in the Washington Post, and written by Dr. Holick, makes some good points that all of us should have at our fingertips when being confronted by the anti-sun militants:

  1. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends never exposing bare skin to the sun, or even on a cloudy day, without sunscreen. [How about that for insanity!]
  2. The FDA calls ultraviolet radiation a carcinogen. [ridiculous]
  3. These messages cause widespread paranoia
  4. SPF 30 sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by 97%.
  5. A lack of vitamin D is associated with increased risk for Type 1 and 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, colon and breast cancer, influenza and tuberculosis.

Much of the rest of the article concentrates on putting the lie to the nonsense about hiding ourselves from the sun, as he talks about how vital vitamin D is for cancer, diabetes and other diseases. He then discusses the best way to get sunlight exposure. This is a must read!

This is the link to the article:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/go-ahead-soak-up-some-sun/2015/07/24/00ea8a84-3189-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7_story.html.

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Non-melanoma skin Cancer (NMSC) and Alzheimer’s Disease

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

Whereas melanoma, the deadly skin cancer, is inversely associated with sunlight exposure (more sunlight exposure, less melanoma) the same is not true for NMSC, which is directly associated with sunlight exposure. It is a rarely fatal disease unless the immune system is compromised due to other diseases or anti-rejection drugs. It has been shown that NMSC associates to a lower risk of melanoma and many other cancers.

I am not suggesting that we contract NMSC in order to prevent melanoma. Correct nutritional habits can also reduce the risk of both NMSC and melanoma,[1] and it should be remembered that in the case that someone contracts an NMSC, it can be easily removed. Melanoma, however, can be deadly. The best bet is to eat wisely and obtain plenty of regular sun exposure so that risk of melanoma is dramatically decreased.

NMSC is often used as a marker for sunlight exposure and is compared with various diseases beyond cancer to determine if sunlight exposure associates to those diseases. Dr. Bill Grant just sent me a paper showing that among people over 70 with NMSC, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is profoundly decreased;[2] in fact those with NMSC had a 79% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. Or stated another way, those without NMSC had about five times the risk of the disease. Of course, this demonstrates the value of sunlight in reducing AD.

Let’s protect our minds as we age by getting plenty of non-burning sunlight! Search the Sunlight Institute site to learn more about how Alzheimer’s is influenced by sunlight and vitamin D.

[1] http://sunlightinstitute.org/lets-revisit-the-need-for-appropriate-nutrition-in-preventing-melanoma-death/

[2] White RS, Lipton RB, Hall CB, Steinerman JR. Nonmelanoma skin cancer is associated with reduced Alzheimer disease risk. Neurology. 2013 May 21;80(21):1966-72.

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The Benefits of Gardening in the Sunlight

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

While contemplating my youth,  growing up on our farm and ranch on the Utah/Nevada border, I mused on the amount of sunlight exposure that the hard summer work required. I was in the fields much of the time and spent a lot of time moving irrigation water, bucking hay bales and building and repairing fences. When the work allowed it, I shed my shirt until the sun became uncomfortable and then donned my cowboy hat and a long-sleeved shirt to protect against getting too much of that wonderful UV light. Some work, such as throwing hay bales on wagons, did not allow a bare body, because alfalfa hay is very scratchy. Much of the time, however, I was able to soak up the sun, going shirtless whether driving a tractor or chasing down recalcitrant cattle and sheep on my horse. My hands were often in the earth as I planted gardens and barley and alfalfa fields. Occasionally, I overdid the sun exposure and paid the price with a sunburn, but that was an infrequent occurrence. My friends called me “the brown man” although I am a blue-eyed, light skinned Caucasian. My tan was very deep; hence the moniker.

Those halcyon days of my youth were summer days, and I was never ill in that season; all of that sunlight kept me well, and it also helped to keep my mood elevated. Melanoma was never a worry for me or for the other farm boys and girls who lived in that area, and I have heard of no one who grew up there who ever contracted the disease, although they had the same ethnicity as I. Of course, lack of melanoma was to be expected, because people who spend much of their life in the sun are far less likely to contract melanoma than those whose stay indoors. For example, Diane Godar and her colleagues have presented evidence that outdoor workers, while receiving 3-9 times the sunlight exposure as indoor workers, have had no increase in melanoma since before 1940, whereas melanoma incidence in indoor workers has increased steadily and exponentially.[1] [2] [3]

This cogitating on my youth was triggered by reading an article entitled A senior moment: Get ‘down and dirty’ — Gardening is good for you![4] It discussed all the benefits of gardening and related some research regarding its therapeutic use:

  1. Exercise that strengthens both the upper-and lower-body muscles, and especially hand strength

  2. Reduces arthritis

  3. Promotes circulation

  4. Reduces heart rate

  5. Lowers blood pressure

  6. Burns calories

  7. Improves sleep

  8. Exposes the body to sunlight (hooray) to reset the circadian rhythms and combat depression

  9. Promotes better nutrition

  10. Increases self-esteem

  11. Gives a better sense of time

  12. Provides aromatherapy

Of course, some of these benefits of gardening are really benefits of sunlight, as mentioned in the article. However, there may be another factor at play; when we connect with the earth, it improves our health,[5] including heart health[6] and mood[7] through a transfer of electrons from the earth to our bodies.

What have we lost as we have adopted our sedentary, indoor lifestyles? Among other things, we have lost our good nutrition, our sunlight exposure and our contact with the earth. It is no wonder that working in a garden has such beneficial effects on our health! It gives us back at least some of our basic human health needs. So if you don’t have a garden, find one and get out in the sunlight!

Having been reminded of some of those vital  needs, I am anticipating with alacrity my upcoming week at my Nevada ranch, where I will rusticate with my wife Vicki and my friends, Drs. Bill Grant and Adiel Tel-Oren. We will be soaking up the sunshine, feeling the dark mountain soil, eating nutritious foods and exulting in the beauty of the aspens and pines. We will also be renewing friendships with the birds, the ducks, the deer, the Elk, the wild turkeys and other wildlife that have no worries about us, because we don’t kill and eat them.

Sunlight, peace and friendships—it doesn’t get any better than this!

[1] Godar D, Landry, R, Lucas, A. Increased UVA exposures and decreased cutaneous Vitamin D3 levels may be responsible for the increasing incidence of melanoma. Med Hypotheses 2009;72(4):434-43

[2] Godar D. UV doses worldwide. Photochem Photobiol 2005;81:736–49.

[3] Thieden E, Philipsen PA, Sandby-Møller J, Wulf HC. UV radiation exposure related to age, sex, occupation, and sun behavior based on time-stamped personal dosimeter readings. Arch Dermatol 2004;140:197–203.

[4] http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/20150417/a-senior-moment-get-down-and-dirty-x2014-gardening-is-good-for-you.

[5] Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015 Mar 24;8:83-96.

[6] Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Delany RM. Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity-a major factor in cardiovascular disease. J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Feb;19(2):102-10

[7] Chevalier G. The effect of grounding the human body on mood. Psychol Rep. 2015 Apr;116(2):534-43

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Dramatic Increases in Melanoma Correlate to Low Annual Sunlight Exposure in Europe.

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE CORRELATES TO A LOWER RISK OF MELANOMA.

I’ve been writing on this FACT for some time, and an impressive 2015 paper corroborates it.[1] Published in the scientific journal Dermato-Endocrinology, the paper makes some very interesting comments, all based on excellent research:

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Let’s revisit the need for appropriate nutrition in preventing melanoma death.

By Marc Sorenson, EdD, Sunlight Institute

Let’s revisit the need for appropriate nutrition in preventing melanoma death.

It has been well-established that melanoma is not caused by sunlight exposure, despite the sunphobes’ protestations to the contrary. There are numerous research papers that indicate melanoma is considerably less frequent among those who are regularly exposed to sunlight than among those who avoid it.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] (The references cited here are only a few of the many papers that corroborate the fact that melanoma is less common among those who embrace the sun.)

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Sunlight Reduces the Risk of Death!

By: Marc Sorenson, EdD Sunlight Institute–

More than two years ago I read of ongoing research by Dr. Pelle Lindqvist—reasearch indicating that greater exposure to sunlight resulted in longer life. I made several attempts to contact Dr. Lindqvist, but was unsuccessful. However, one of his colleagues answered my query and informed me that the research would not be completed later on and then be published. The results are now available, and they are impressive.[1]

During a 20-year period, the subjects in the study who avoided sun exposure were twice as likely to die of any cause compared to those who had the highest sun exposure, and the researchers made this statement: “In both models the summary sun exposure variables showed a ‘dose-dependent’ inverse relation between sun exposure and all-cause death.”

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Regular Occupational Sunlight Exposure is Associated with a Reduced risk of Melanoma on the Face and Arms.

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

From University of Sydney in Australia comes the latest research to contradict one of the biggest lies of the past several decades: that melanoma is caused by sunlight exposure.

The results of the investigation were recently published in the International Journal of Cancer, and demonstrated that regular sunlight exposure was not associated with either overall melanoma risk or risk at different body sites.[1] To the contrary, the highest sunlight exposure predicted a 44% decreased risk of melanoma on the head and neck when compared to the lowest exposure.

In addition, when sunlight exposure to the upper limbs was assessed, the highest exposure was associated with a decreased risk of melanoma of 34%. The authors stated, “Our results suggest that occupational sun exposure does not increase risk of melanoma, even of melanomas situated on the head and neck.”

Stated another way, the authors might have suggested that sunlight exposure protects against the risk of contracting melanoma. In reading this research, I was reminded of a statement by Dr. Frank Garland during his presentation at a vitamin D conference I attended several years ago. He said, “melanoma is a disease of sedentary, indoor office workers.” He was absolutely correct.

Those who have bought the propaganda of the American Academy of Dermatology may consider this information quite surprising, but in reality it is just one more in a long line of scientific investigations pointing out several reasons that melanoma is not caused by sunlight exposure: (1) Most melanomas occur on areas of the body that are seldom exposed to sunlight. (2) As sunscreen use has increased, melanoma has also increased. (3) Outdoor workers have far less risk of melanoma than indoor workers. (4) As the populace has left outdoor work and moved indoors, profoundly reducing sunlight exposure, melanoma has increased exponentially.

For those interested in reading further regarding these statements and also searching the references, they are contained on previous posts on this site. In the meantime, let’s take advantage of some non-burning sun exposure to protect ourselves against melanoma.

I’m grateful to the scientists from Australia who brought forth this information. Truth will ultimately prevail.

 


[1] Vuong K, McGeechan K, Armstrong BK; AMFS Investigators; GEM Investigators, Cust AE. Occupational sun exposure and risk of melanoma according to anatomical site. Int J Cancer 2013 Nov 13 [Epub ahead of print].

 

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Alcohol and Melanoma: More Proof that this Deadly Skin Cancer is not caused by Sunlight

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

Those who make a fortune by maligning the sunlight as the cause of melanoma, fail to consider that there are many factors that correlate to an increased melanoma risk. Two decades ago, an important study was published in the Annals of Epidemiology, which pointed to several nutritional factors, one of which was the consumption of alcohol.[1] In that research, women who drank two or more drinks per day had an increased risk of melanoma of 250%. Then, in 2004, Amy Millen and her colleagues showed that  high alcohol consumption (2.8 drinks per week) correlated to an increased risk of melanoma of 69%.[2]

When considering those studies, it becomes obvious that increasing consumption of alcohol leads to increasing risk of melanoma. Millen’s research, by the way, defined many other nutritional factors that lead to either an increased risk of melanoma or a protection against the disease. I discussed those factors in an earlier post on nutrition and melanoma. http://sunlightinstitute.org/skin-cancer-and-nutrition%E2%80%94stop-blaming-sun

The latest research corroborates the findings of the two aforementioned studies. Jessica Kubo and colleagues investigated the effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of melanoma in a 10.2-year study.[3] Several interesting observations emerged: (1) those who consumed 7+ drinks per week had a 64% increased risk of melanoma; (2) higher lifetime alcohol consumption was positively correlated to risk of the disease; (3) higher current alcohol consumption similarly correlated to a higher risk: (4) current alcohol intake also predicted higher risk; (5) a preference for white wine or liquor also predicted increased risk.

So you see, the idea that melanoma is caused by sunlight exposure is again refuted. We know that as sunlight exposure has decreased profoundly in the last 100 years, the risk of melanoma has increased exponentially. When sunlight exposure has decreased and melanoma has concomitantly increased, what more needs to be said? I have previously posted two blogs on this subject and believe that they entirely refute the claim that melanoma is caused by sunlight.http://sunlightinstitute.org/exposing-sunlightmelanoma-fraud-part-1   http://sunlightinstitute.org/exposing-sunlightmelanoma-fraud-part-2

It is time that we started using our heads and look for the real reason for melanoma. Alcohol is just one reason among many, and it is time to look to other deleterious lifestyles as being the real causes of this deadly disease.



[1] Bain C, Green A, Siskind V, Alexander J, Harvey P. Diet and melanoma. An exploratory case-control study. Ann Epidemiol 1993;3:235-8.

[2] Millen AE, Tucker MA, Hartge P, Halpern A, Elder DE, et al. Diet and Melanoma in a Case-Control Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2004;13(6):1042-51.

[3] Kubo JT, Henderson MT, Desai M, Wactawski-Wende J, Stefanick ML, Tang JY. Alcohol consumption and risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in the Women’s Health Initiative. Cancer Causes Control 2013 Oct 31. [Epub ahead of print]

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