The health benefits of spending time in the sun could outweigh the risks for those living in areas with limited sunshine, a study suggests. In low-sunlight locations such as parts of the U.K.
, exposure to higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation—found in sunlight—was linked to a drop in deaths due to and cancer. Adapting public health advice to reflect both the and benefits of UV exposure may help to reduce disease burden and improve in low-sunlight countries, the research team says. Experts caution that measures should still be taken to protect the skin when UV levels are high, to prevent sunburn and the development of skin cancer.
Volunteer data University of Edinburgh scientists used genetic and health information from the UK BioBank—an anonymized database of health details from volunteers—to examine the UV exposure of 395,000 people across the U.K. Participants were restricted to those of white European descent, due to the role skin pigmentation plays in the body's response to UV exposure.
The team applied two measures to identify those exposed to higher levels of UV. They used the geographical location of participants to calculate their average annual exposure to and, separately, whether they used sunbeds. The findings were adjusted for other factors that might influence health—including smoking, exercise, social deprivation and gender—to reduce the chance that these factors were responsible for any of the changes observed.
Health impact Living in location.