As a geek, I must admit a certain amount of frustration with many people espousing opinion when it comes to the skin. Choosing to blinder themselves from the obvious or ignoring simple realities to make a point.
Jay Chiat, the advertising guru that was responsible for much of the Apple Macintosh marketing, once told me that, “Controversy is the #1 tool of marketing. With the spread of blogs, articles and chat rooms created by the internet, his words are more true that ever. Couple that concept with the Chinese proverb, “one dog hears something and barks. Then 500 dogs bark because they heard the dog bark,” seems to be the new normal.
Case in point, almost every time Doc Mercola talks about the sun, he claims its benefits and no direct link to damage. I must admit that he says it using controversial words that slide through the truth. Well, at least my truth.
So, I am cruising through one of my engineering blogs and saw the article below. You be the judge for yourself. I know that I am going to upgrade the side window films to the new 3M SPF 1000 UV coating on all of my vehicles based on the article.
Bob
PS, some people found the image of this 69 year old man a bit hard to look at, so the article with his picture is below the fold.
So, as you read the short article below, the message is not about sunscreens. It is clearly about using any technology that you can to prevent sun damage. I travel a lot across North America driving from city to city. I wear protective sun clothing and UV sunglasses. My side curtain windows are UV tinted, but the front windshield is illegal to tint. Luckily, my motor coach and my towed SUV have UV protection in the widshield.
This article is a great example about how ambient UV can damage the skin physically as well as internally. This applies to homes with lots of glass and office windows as well.
from GizmodoShocking Proof That the Sun Makes You Age Prematurely
This guy is 69 years old, but half of his face looks much, much older than that. He was a trucker and, for 28 years, his face received much more sunlight on the left side, resulting on premature aging.
We all knew that being exposed to the sun makes you age prematurely, but seeing the dramatic difference in a single face is just stunning.
His condition is called unilateral dermatoheliosis, from the Greek dermis and helios, skin and sun. It’s also called photoaging, and it results from chronic exposure to the sun’s UVA and UVB rays. In his case, it only affected the left side of his face because of his work. As he drove, he received much many hours of sunlight through the left window of his vehicle.
The case was discovered and studied by Jennifer R.S. Gordon and Joaquin C. Brieva, dermatologists at Northwestern University, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine:
A 69-year-old man presented with a 25-year history of gradual, asymptomatic thickening and wrinkling of the skin on the left side of his face. The physical examination showed hyperkeratosis with accentuated ridging, multiple open comedones, and areas of nodular elastosis. Histopathological analysis showed an accumulation of elastolytic material in the dermis and the formation of milia within the vellus hair follicles. Findings were consistent with the Favre–Racouchot syndrome of photodamaged skin, known as dermatoheliosis.
The patient reported that he had driven a delivery truck for 28 years. Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays transmit through window glass, penetrating the epidermis and upper layers of dermis. Chronic UVA exposure can result in thickening of the epidermis and stratum corneum, as well as destruction of elastic fibers. This photoaging effect of UVA is contrasted with photocarcinogenesis.
Since UVB and UVA can cause DNA mutations leading to skin cancer, the doctors recommended their patient to use sun protection and topical retinoids, as well as periodic monitoring for the apparition of skin cancer.
As the summer starts, this is a perfect reminder of the negative effects of excessive suntanning. If the risk of skin cancer is not enough for you, perhaps knowing that the sun will accelerate your ageing by a decade or two will stop you from being careless. Remember, if you are going to be exposed to the sun in any way—even if you are not at the beach or a swimming pool—use protection.
From the New England Journal of Medicine [NEJM]
A 69-year-old man presented with a 25-year history of gradual, asymptomatic thickening and wrinkling of the skin on the left side of his face. The physical examination showed hyperkeratosis with accentuated ridging, multiple open comedones, and areas of nodular elastosis. Histopathological analysis showed an accumulation of elastolytic material in the dermis and the formation of milia within the vellus hair follicles. Findings were consistent with the Favre–Racouchot syndrome of photodamaged skin, known as dermatoheliosis. The patient reported that he had driven a delivery truck for 28 years. Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays transmit through window glass, penetrating the epidermis and upper layers of dermis. Chronic UVA exposure can result in thickening of the epidermis and stratum corneum, as well as destruction of elastic fibers. This photoaging effect of UVA is contrasted with photocarcinogenesis. Although exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays is linked to a higher rate of photocarcinogenesis, UVA has also been shown to induce substantial DNA mutations and direct toxicity, leading to the formation of skin cancer. The use of sun protection and topical retinoids and periodic monitoring for skin cancer were recommended for the patient.
Jennifer R.S. Gordon, M.D.
Joaquin C. Brieva, M.D.
Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
I saw this article on Yahoo and it confirmed what I have seen in the minor damage to the left side of my face and left hand. I live in the desert and have the appropriate window tinting. I still use a shade screen on the side windows (makes it much cooler and is easy to see through) and was wondering what that did for blocking the UV rays. I continue to slather on the Solar Rx for my protection on a daily basis.
Hi Tish,
Unless the screen is UV rated and made out of a film like 3M UV, it is probably not doing much. The coolness is a reduction in infrared energy which is fairly easy to block. UV requires a different other end of the spectrum blocking. Here is a link with more information. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Window_Film/Solutions/Markets-Products/Automotive/
There are some stickable UV film shields out there, but most are the mesh variety. We recommend having windows tinted, but unfortunately it is against the law to tint the front windshield.
Regards,
Mickey
I am not affiliated with anyone. Just a reader and a Keys customer. My “take away” from the Mercola articles isn’t that the sun does not cause damage, only that NOT getting any sun at all = vitamin D deficiency, which is in fact a true epidemic since the sun has been so vilified. A half hour at prime time (sun at its zenith) to get your fill of exposure to make the body’s needed D and then cover up or get out of the sun.
These people who spend hours a day exposing themselves for years (construction workers, farmers, truckers, etc.) are indeed getting too much sun. The other issue with skin cancer is the fact we have put chemical-laden sunscreens on for years without realizing THAT in itself created the rise in skin cancer. Chemicals = cancer.
If you MUST be in the sun all day then by all means, use everything you can to limit exposure for premature aging and cancer. However, we do need some prime exposure for the Hormone/vitamin D3 production needed for a properly functioning immune system.
As the old saying goes, everything in moderation.
Hi Cathleen,
All well said. Bob, our founder, Dr Mercola and Dr Oz seem to be always entangled with something. We do all feel that Dr Mercola’s below the fold sensationalism creates more of a perception than a reality. If indeed perception is reality, then there are far too many people that take the sensationalism to a level of truth with a capital T. You obviously read the fact and sideline the drama.
Regards,
Mickey
I don’t listen to those “famous” docs. The sun does have a lot of benefits. Not only vitamin D (which is technically a hormone) but it also helps the brain make “happy” hormones. Sadly, it also causes damage when taken in too much. I heard a wonderful Dr. cite some evidence that we only need a few minutes of sun to get the benefits. He said most people only need about 5 minutes of sun (without any kind of protection of course) to reap the benefits, and you only need it about 3 times a week. I get my few minutes of sun, then protect it the rest of the day with Coolibar umbrella, Solar RX or for waterproof protection ISUN antioxidant natural spf). I don’t buy into the scare tactics of other people who say the sun is so horrible and you should never get any. I know it has benefits, but I also know you don’t need very much of it to get it. Also, Jeff Novick MS R.D. posted a very reputable article that shows that most skin cancer is a result of our diets. Vegetable oils, wine, animal products, sugar cause a lot of the skin cancer out there. After you ingest those foods, and the sun hits your skin it causes a lot of free radicals, that lead to skin cancer. So let’s be balanced. Don’t be afraid of the sun, but also don’t be careless about the fact that too much of it will harm the skin.
Dear Beatriz,
The wavelength of our particle ranges from approximately 30 nm to 420 nm. We have done some testing with helium argon welders down into the soft xray area, but nothing we are able to publish at this time.
The debate about the causes of skin cancer are as wide and varied as there are opinions. About our only comment is that most believe that it is a hereditary, sun based (UVA) or possibly even viral. My only comment on diet is that we believe that it is the lack of a proper diet, dehydration and mineral reduction that may make the skin susceptible to many forms of cancer, fungus and bacteria. This extends to the use of antibacterial soaps and sanitizers. Beyond that direction of research, we also believe that broad brush statements by anyone, especially doctors, without proper research and data is self-serving at best.
Regards,
Mickey
Yes, I agree. The statements I heard from Dr.’s about some of the causes of skin cancer were backed up by well done studies. They are available for contact online and would be very happy to share that information. I don’t see how stating those studies, would self serve them at all. Since they were not pushing or selling anything.