Way back in my sun worshipping days -- when I longed for a golden tan, logged countless hours scorching my body, and ignored my grandma's warnings that my pale skin was just not tough enough for the sun's powerful rays -- I would have basked in joy over headlines now surfacing in the media. They go something like this: the sun may actually fight skin cancer instead of causing it. According to a team of scientists at the University of New Mexico's Cancer Research and Treatment Center, a little bit of ultraviolet B light is enough to stimulate a vitamin D immune response in the skin -- but it's not enough to boost skin cancer risk.
It's still true that sunlight is the main cause of skin cancer. But limiting exposure is the key to preventing the disease -- and for promoting bone health and perhaps preventing colon cancer too.
Researchers, whose findings are published in the March issue of Nature Immunology, suggest staying out of the sun for now -- because they don't yet know what constitutes a little bit when it comes to UVB rays.
