Can the Sun Allow you to Stop Multiple Sclerosis or MS?

Over the last few decades we have all been bombarded with messages about how exactly essential it is to stay out of the sun. We’ve realized exactly how real a risk skin cancer can be and are doing everything we can think of to prevent it from happening. We wear many layers of the largest SPF sunscreens that we can buy. We put huge old floppy hats on our heads. We wear long sleeves and pant legs even in the warmest of temperatures. We try to stick to the low light areas—some folks have even taken to carrying parasols around with them to keep the sun from ever making contact with their skin. Now we’re beginning to find out that sunlight can sometimes be really helpful. Can the sun actually help you?

A new study has found that individuals who allow themselves some sun exposure are less likely to develop MS than those who try to minimize their sun exposure. The study was initially performed to see how Vitamin D affects the progression of Multiple Sclerosis. It didn’t take long for them to realize that it is the Vitamin D our bodies make after exposure to the sun’s rays that is at the center of the issue.

We’ve known for a very long time that sunshine and Vitamin D can hinder the way the immune system contributes to MS. This study, on the other hand, focuses on the affects of the sun’s rays on those who are experiencing the very earliest symptoms of the disease. The objective of the study is to see how the sun’s rays and Vitamin D might have an affect on the symptoms doctors call «precursor» to actual symptoms of the disease.

Unfortunately, there are not all that many approaches to actually quantify the study’s hypothesis. The goal of the study is to figure out if sunlight can actually combat MS. Sadly, the only real way to quantify whether or not this is correct is to monitor a person over his or her entire life. This is only way that it may be possible to assess and comprehend the levels of Vitamin D that are present in a person’s blood before the precursors of the disease show up. As it appears now, people with normal sun exposure seem to have fewer MS symptoms, particularly in the beginning, than those who live in darker and colder climates—but this was already widely known.

There is also the astonishingly important problem of the fact that increased amounts of exposure to the sun increase your risk of getting skin cancer. So, in an attempt to keep one particular illness from setting in, you’ll probably be inadvertently causing another. Of course, if you ever get skin cancer early enough you are a lot more likely to cure it. MS continue to has no cure.

So should you raise your direct exposure to the sunlight so that you don’t get MS? Ask a family doctor whether or not this is an excellent idea. Your health care provider will determine if you are vulnerable for the disease (and how much) by checking out your genetics, medical history and current health. From here a family doctor can help you determine the best course of action.