Friday, June 17, 2011

More on Sunscreen and Sun Exposure

In any explorative process, it is vital to have many input streams of fresh information and fresh perspective. It is especially helpful to listen to inputs that absolutely disagree strongly with any different idea I might have.

For this reason, I listened to sunscreen experts on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.

Explorer Personal Note: I enjoy listening to talk radio as much as I enjoy channel flipping always.

Since I have very different ideas about sunscreen, I thought it very necessary to listen to proponents to sunscreen use. The lack of thorough challenging of their scientific assumptions was frankly terrifying.

Skin cancer use is up. Sunscreen use is at an all-time high. Yet, the amount of consideration of why this correlation exists was explained away with an anecdotal fairy tale story about an imaginary bottle of sunscreen that lasts over a year for a family of five. Truly scary to know the mental laxity our experts engage in to avoid leaving lingering questions in their own mind.

Certainly, sunlight and UV radiation are not singular entities. Is there any possibility that there is something in sunlight other than damage? It is absolutely true that we need sunlight and UV radiation to survive. Certainly, there are damaging potentials with overexposure to anything. Water is vital to life, yet people drown. Sunlight is vital to life, yet people develop skin cancer and die.

These are very serious issues. I do not tread lightly. You should not either. Just because I believe sunscreen to not be the best choice for myself, does not mean there are no benefits to sunscreen use. I think it’s important to really examine any of these assumptions, thoroughly.

My Explorer Notes

Humans had no sunscreen for many millennia. Yet, humanity survives today.

Our skin is an organ. It is designed to interact with sunlight to keep us alive.

Sunlight is not a single entity. It is a slew of energies, some harmful, some beneficial.

The skins reactions to some of these energies keep us alive.

Explorer Theory

Sunscreen blocks some of these sunlight energies. My theory is that it blocks the energies that yield potential beneficial protections against continued sun exposure. With the beneficial portions of sun exposure blocked, the less easy to protect and much more destructive aspects of sunlight are allowed to damage the skin.

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