Interesting article about sun exposure, sunscreen and vitamin D:
What is your take? Get enough sun exposure but use sunscreen as little as possible unless at risk for sunburn, which should be avoided under any circumstances?
At this time I don’t have the inclination to read that article because 1) it’s outside online, 2) sensationalism, 3) it’s a complex topic unlikely to be addressed in this type of editorial.
In any event, different demographics in different locations have different risk profiles for all cancers -including skin cancers. Additionally, different skin cancers have different trajectories as far as co-morbidity and mortality rates in different populations (and locations). One environmental factor that makes a difference can be sun exposure duration over the years and # of sun burns, though this isn’t universally predictive for skin or other cancer development (or prevention).
Depending on where you live, your history of sun exposure, demographic, baseline cancer risk, etc. then sun screen may be vitally important for your long term health. The risk:benefit profile for sunscreen is heavily in favor of benefit in most populations.
As far as vitamin D status, my current take on this is that vitamin D levels are heavily influenced by organ systems’ functioning and metabolic health- to an even greater degree than sun exposure. In other words, Vitamin D levels are not reliably correlated with sun exposure in populations with clinical (and sub-clinical) pathologies. Not wearing sun screen to get more sun to try and prop up their vitamin D is unlikely to help them (same with supplementation).
So, tl;dr- if your vitamin D levels are in a pathological range, find out why and address that alongside potentially repleting vitamin D stores with a supplement and increasing sun exposure (depending on risk). Use sunscreen if there is a potential to burn or your risk of burns or skin cancer are elevated for any reason.
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