Can Black Americans Reduce or Eliminate Racial Health Disparities by Getting More Sun Exposure?
Main Article Content
Abstract
It is becoming well understood that insufficient sun exposure is a risk factor for many adverse health effects. Increased adverse health effects such as cancers and cardiovascular disease have been quantified with respect to measured levels of vitamin D, a marker for sun exposure. Most acquired vitamin D [measured as 25(OH)D level] is a result of ultraviolet radiation from sun exposure. Because of higher levels of melanin in the skin, individuals with darker skin obtain less vitamin D and other beneficial sun-produced biomolecules such as nitric oxide from a given amount of sun exposure. It is the purpose of this paper to report the published observed 25(OH)D levels in Black Americans and the correlated levels of adverse health effects. Our conclusion is that insufficient sun exposure is a major component of the observed health disparities between Black and White Americans, and that Black Americans can significantly attenuate these disparities by having enough additional sun exposure to raise their 25(OH)D levels to 30 ng/mL.
Article Details
How to Cite
HOEL, David G..
Can Black Americans Reduce or Eliminate Racial Health Disparities by Getting More Sun Exposure?.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 10, n. 7, july 2022.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/2898>. Date accessed: 24 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v10i7.2898.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
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7. Alfredsson L, Armstrong BK, Butterfield DA, Chowdhury R, de Gruijl FR, Feelisch M, Garland CF, Hart PH, Hoel DG, Jacobsen R, Lindqvist PG, Llewellyn DJ, Tiemeier H, Weller RB, Young AR. Insufficient Sun Exposure Has Become a Real Public Health Problem. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17:5014.
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12. Wacker M and Holick MF. Sunlight and Vitamin D: A global perspective for health. Dermato-Endocrinology 2013;5:51-107.
13. Steenbock H, Black A. Fat-soluble vitamins XXIII. The induction of growth-promoting and calcifying properties in fats and their unsaponifiable constituents by exposure to light. J Biol Chem 1925;64:263-98.
14. Askew FA, Bourdillon RB, Bruce HM, Jenkins RGC, Webster TA. The distillation of vitamin D. Proc R Soc 1931;B107:76-90.
15. Holick, MF. The Cutaneous Photosynthesis of Previtamin D3: A Unique Photoendocrine System. J Invest Dermatol 1981;76:51-58.
16. Holick MF. Vitamin D Deficiency. New Engl J Med 2007;357:266-281.
17. Findlay GM. Ultraviolet light and skin cancer. Lancet 1928;2:1070-1073.
18. https://www.cancer.org.au/about-us/policy-and-advocacy/position-statements/sunsmart.
19. Albert MR, Ostheimer KG. The evolution of current medical and popular attitudes toward ultraviolet light exposure: part 3. J Am Acad Dermatol 2003; 49:1096-106.
20. Lowe NJ. An overview of ultraviolet radiation, sunscreens, and photo-induced dermatoses. Dermatol Clin 2006;24:9-17.
21. https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/skin-cancer/prevent/how.
22. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/sun-safety.htm.
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28. Oplander C, Volkmar CM, Paunel-Gorgulu A, van Faasen EE, Heiss C, Kelm M, Halmer D, Murtz M, Pallua N, Suschek CV. Whole Body UVA Irradiation Lowes Systemic Blood Pressure by Release of Nitric Oxide From Intracutaneous Photolabile Nitric Oxide Derivates. Circ Res 2009;105:1031-1040.
29. Feelisch M, Kolb-Bachofen V, Liu D, Lundberg JO, Revelo LP, Suschek CV, Weller RB. Is sunlight good for our heart? Eur Heart J 2010; 31:1041–1045.
30. Juzeniene A and Moan J. Beneficial effects of UV radiation other than via vitamin D production. Dermato-Endocrinology 2012;4:109-117.
31. Slominski AT, Zmijewski MA, Plonka PM, Szaflarski JP, Paus R. How UV Light Touches the Brain and Endocrine System Through Skin, and Why. Endocrinology 2018;159:1992-2007.
32. Hart PH, Norval M, Byrne SN, Rhodes LE. Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation in the Modulation of Human Diseases. Annu Rev Pathol Mech Dis 2019;14:55-81.
33. Bustamante M, Hernandez-Ferrer C., Tewar A, Sarria Y, Harrison GI, Puigdecanet E, Nonell L, Kang W, Friedlander MR, Estivill X, Gonzalez JR, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Young AR. Dose and time effects of solar-simulated ultraviolet radiation on the in vivo human skin transcriptome. Br J Dermatol 2020;182:1458-1468.
34. Ponda, MP, Liang Y, Kim J, Hutt R, Dowd K, Gilleaudeau P, Sullivan-Whalen MM, Rodrick T, Kim, DJ, Barash I, Lowes MA, Breslow JL. A randomized clinical trial in vitamin D-deficient adults comparing replenishment with oral vitamin D3 with narrow-band UV type B light: Effects on cholesterol and the transcriptional profiles of skin and blood. Am J Clin Nutr 2017;105:1230–1238.
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36. https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-radiation-basics.
37. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/uviguide.pdf.
38. Solano F. Photoprotection and Skin Pigmentation: Melanin-Related Molecules and Some Other New Agents Obtained from Natural Sources. Molecules 2020;25:1537.
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40. Holick MF. McCollum award lecture, 1994: vitamin D— new horizons for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;60:619–630.
41. Macdonald HM, Mavroeidi A, Fraser WD, Darling AL, Black AJ, Aucott L, O'Neill F, Hart K, Berry Lanham-New SA, Reid DM. Sunlight and dietary contributions to the seasonal vitamin status of cohorts of healthy postmenopausal women living at northerly latitudes: a major cause for concern. Osteroporos Int 2011;22:2461-2472.
42. Liu X, Baylin A, Levy PD. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among US adults: prevalence, predictors and clinical implications. Br J Nutrition 2019;119:928-936.
43. Melamed ML, Michos ED, Post W, Astor B. 25-Hydroxyl Vitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Arch Intern Med 2008;168:1629-1637.
44. Nesby-O’Dell S, Scanlon KS, Cogswell ME, Gillespie C, Hollis BW, Looker AC, Allen C, Doughertly C, Gunter EW, Bowman BA. Hypovitaminosis D prevalence and determinants among African American and white women of reproductive age: third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;76:187-92.
45. Luxwolda MF, Kuipers RS, Kema IP, Dijck-Brouwer DAJ, Muskiet FAJ. Traditionally living populations in East Africa have a mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration of 115 nmol/L. Br J Nutr 2012;108:1557-1561.
46. Ginde AA, Liu MC, Camargo CA. Demographic Differences and Trends of Vitamin D Insufficiency in the US Population, 1988-2004. Arch Intern Med 2009;169:626-632.
47. Chowdhury R, Kunutsor S, Vitezova A, Oliver-Williams C, Chowdhury S, Kiefte-de-Jong JC, Khan H, Baena CP, Prabhakaran D, Hoshen MB, Feldman BS, Pan A, Johnson L, Crowe F, Hu FB, Franco OH. Vitamin D and risk of cause specific death: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational cohort and randomised intervention studies. BMJ 2014;348:g1903.
48. Lindqvist PG, Epstein E, Landin-Olsson M, Ingvar C, Nielsen K, Stenbeck M, Olsson H. Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for all-cause mortality: results from the Melanoma in Southern Sweden cohort. J Intern Med 2014;276:77-86.
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50. Gorham ED, Garland CF, Garland FC, Grant WB, Mohr SB, Lipkin M, Newmark HL, Giovannucci E, Wei M, Holick MF. Optimal Vitamin D Status for Colorectal Cancer Prevention. Am J Prev Med 2007;32:210-216.
51. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/uscs/about/data-briefs/no16-colorectal-cancer-2007-2016.htm.
52. Vyas N, Companioni RC, Tiba M, Alkhawam H, Catalano C, Sogomonian R, Baum J, Walfish A. Association between serum vitamin D levels and gastric cancer: A retrospective chart analysis. World J Gastrointest Onc 2016;8:688-694.
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