Nexus - 0804 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

"A paper published in 1998 by the European Science and master glands of the whole endocrine system that controls the pro- Environmental Forum challenges the consensus view on ozone duction and release of hormones. This regulates your body chem- depletion, and argues that predictions made by the scientific istry and its growth, all organs of your body, including your brain, establishment and the media have been ill-founded." If this is and how they function."”' the case, and the hole in the ozone layer is, after all, a temporary The critical reader will ask: where are the controlled, scientific thinning of the upper atmosphere in the early spring, then there is tests supporting Dr Ott's statements? The answer to that question no reason to fear that people will develop skin cancer because is: who can make money promoting sunlight? Think about it. ultraviolet radiation has become more dangerous. "There is certainly no evidence to support the widely held view I. Ultraviolet Deprivation Health Effects that the increase in malignant melanoma in recent years is in some First, let's consider the health effects of ultraviolet deprivation. way linked to ozone depletion. The trend predates the issue of ozone loss, which may have been going on for some time before it ¢ Indoor Lighting and Melanoma was noticed. A paper published in the British Journal of Cancer Malignant melanoma is often alarmingly but wrongly blamed shows that from 1957 to 1984 the incidence of malignant on sun exposure. The dangerous kind, called skin cancer, is ulti- melanoma in Norway increased by 350 per mately fatal if not corrected. A study by the cent for men and 440 per cent for women. US Navy found the most melanoma in peo- During the same period there was no change ple who worked indoors all the time. Those in ozone levels over Norway, nor any signif- who worked both outdoors and indoors some icant change in annual exposure to ultravio- of the time had the lowest incidence. Also, let radiation from the Sun." Scare stories, most melanomas appeared on parts of the such as the one about sheep in Chile devel- Two hours of body that are seldom exposed to sunlight.” oping cataracts because of increased ultravi- bright light In the The inference is that both very high and very olet radiation, are not supported in the scien- i i low exposures to UV light can be harmful— tific literature. The sheep in question were evening can sometimes and moderate exposure is healthful.“ later found to have had an infectious disease, cure symptoms and sunlight was not implicated." H H Sunscreens and Melanoma "What is clear, however, is that there is a such as weight gain, Sunscreens block out only UVA and great deal of ill-informed comment on the depression, UVB, which we all need in trace amounts, subject of ozone depletion and, for that Fl but not the potentially dangerous, ger- matter, sunbathing. Should depletion carbohydrate craving, micidal UVC. No commercial sun- of the ozone layer ever become a cause social withdrawal, screens have been proved safe.* Their for real concern, then some people fatigue and chemicals penetrate the skin into the irritability. might develop cancer who might not circulation and add to the burden of have, had there been no depletion, but toxins to be detoxified.” Commercial until this happens there is much more sunscreens increase the risk of to be gained from investigating the real melanoma by causing mutations when causes of skin cancer and encouraging the cells' chromosomes interact with safe sunbathing than in being preoccu- the chemicals and the light.” Natural pied with the state of the Earth's upper sunscreens, as well as commercial atmosphere and blaming everything on ones, curtail needed uptake of vitamin the Sun. Diet and lifestyle play a far D3 from UVB, increasing the risk of more significant part in the genesis of cancer than is currently the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. recognised. The same can also be said about another condition Moreover, Lita Lee, PhD, notes: "Mounting evidence indicates that is supposed to be on the increase because of ozone deple- that many of them [sunscreens] contain carcinogens and that the tion—that of senile cataract." rise of skin cancers parallels the increase in sunscreen usage. The Note that even low exposure to UVB significantly increases the only sunscreen I recommend is coconut oil, although, believe me, risk of cataracts,'* but only with the consumption of a Western you cannot slather this oil on your skin and bake in the sun all junk food diet rich in unsaturated fats and their oxidised prod- day. Adding a little iodine to the coconut oil for the first week of ucts.'*'° Those (including myself) who consume a more sensible summer gives added protection; however, do not use the iodine diet, and supplement it with vitamins C and E, do not get cataracts for more than a week, as continued use will inhibit your thyroid even from lengthy sun exposure.'*'* function. In my opinion, the only other safe (non-carcinogenic) sunscreen would be one containing titanium dioxide."* DUATARINI ALY master glands of the whole endocrine system that controls the pro- duction and release of hormones. This regulates your body chem- istry and its growth, all organs of your body, including your brain, and how they function." The critical reader will ask: where are the controlled, scientific tests supporting Dr Ott's statements? The answer to that question is: who can make money promoting sunlight? Think about it. I. Ultraviolet Deprivation Health Effects First, let's consider the health effects of ultraviolet deprivation. Two hours of bright light in the evening can sometimes nena a cure symptoms such as weight gain, depression, carbohydrate craving, social withdrawal, fatigue and irritability. PHOTOBIOLOGY Starting from a high-school hobby of time-lapse photography, the late John N. Ott, DScHon,” founded the new science of photo- biology. He was active into his tenth decade. Dr Ott's last book, one of many publications, is Light, Radiation and You: How to Stay Healthy (1990).*° In it he wrote: "Mankind adapted to the full range of the solar spectrum, and arti- ficial distortions of that spectrum—malillumination, a condition analogous to malnutrition—may have biologic effects." In an interview published in 1991, he noted: "There are neurochemical channels from the retina to the pineal and pituitary glands, the - Fluorescent Lighting and Melanoma A study published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet and a Russian study found that fluorescent light rather than sunlight promotes melanoma, proportionately to the time of exposure.” In the Lancet study, among a sample of nearly 900 women, those who worked indoors under fluorescent lighting had 2.1 times higher melanoma risk (95% confidence interval, CI, 1.32 to 3.32) than others. Among women exposed for 20 years or more, the relative risk (RR) was 2.6 (95% CI, 1.2 to 5.9). Relative risks were lower in women who had been most heavily exposed to sunlight, 36 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2001 www. nexusmagazine.com