Winter is flu season. This is also due to the fact that viruses multiply best when humidity lies at around 50%, so in winter, heated rooms provide the perfect conditions. Flu vaccinations give some protection, however Norwegian scientists have shown that it is much more important to maintain adequate levels of vitamin D in the blood.
Their study reveals that infection rates and mortality during flu epidemics increase in line with a reduction in sun exposure and the resultant decrease in vitamin D levels. In winter, when sunlight is too weak to synthesise vitamin D, these rates can even increase 20-fold to 600-fold.
This is when moderate use of a solarium can work as an excellent preventive measure. A Norwegian and a Danish study have demonstrated that sunbeds stimulate vitamin D production via the skin in exactly the same way as natural sunlight.
"It is a proven fact that vitamin D boosts the immune system. Moderate sunbathing stimulates the production of vitamin D. Particularly in the winter months, when the sun is too weak to synthesise vitamin D naturally, it can make sense to visit a solarium to protect yourself against flu viruses", explains Ad Brand of the Sunlight Research Forum.
Sources:
1) Asta Juzeniene, Li-Wei Ma, Mateusz Kwitniewski, Georgy A. Polev, Zoya Lagunova, Arne Dahlback, Johan Moan: The seasonality of pandemic and non-pandemic influenzas: the roles of solar radiation and vitamin D, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 14, Issue 12, December 2010, Pages e1099–e1105
2) Johan Moan, Zoya Lagunova, Emanuela Cicarma, Lage Aksnes, Arne Dahlback, William B. Grant
and Alina Carmen Porojnicu: Sunbeds as Vitamin D Sources, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2009, 85: 1474–1479
3) Elisabeth Thieden, Henrik L. Jørgensen, Niklas Rye Jørgensen, Peter A. Philipsen and Hans Christian Wulf: Sunbed Radiation Provokes Cutaneous Vitamin D Synthesis in Humans— A Randomized Controlled Trial, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2008, 84: 1487–1492
Their study reveals that infection rates and mortality during flu epidemics increase in line with a reduction in sun exposure and the resultant decrease in vitamin D levels. In winter, when sunlight is too weak to synthesise vitamin D, these rates can even increase 20-fold to 600-fold.
This is when moderate use of a solarium can work as an excellent preventive measure. A Norwegian and a Danish study have demonstrated that sunbeds stimulate vitamin D production via the skin in exactly the same way as natural sunlight.
"It is a proven fact that vitamin D boosts the immune system. Moderate sunbathing stimulates the production of vitamin D. Particularly in the winter months, when the sun is too weak to synthesise vitamin D naturally, it can make sense to visit a solarium to protect yourself against flu viruses", explains Ad Brand of the Sunlight Research Forum.
Sources:
1) Asta Juzeniene, Li-Wei Ma, Mateusz Kwitniewski, Georgy A. Polev, Zoya Lagunova, Arne Dahlback, Johan Moan: The seasonality of pandemic and non-pandemic influenzas: the roles of solar radiation and vitamin D, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 14, Issue 12, December 2010, Pages e1099–e1105
2) Johan Moan, Zoya Lagunova, Emanuela Cicarma, Lage Aksnes, Arne Dahlback, William B. Grant
and Alina Carmen Porojnicu: Sunbeds as Vitamin D Sources, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2009, 85: 1474–1479
3) Elisabeth Thieden, Henrik L. Jørgensen, Niklas Rye Jørgensen, Peter A. Philipsen and Hans Christian Wulf: Sunbed Radiation Provokes Cutaneous Vitamin D Synthesis in Humans— A Randomized Controlled Trial, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2008, 84: 1487–1492
