Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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pairOdime
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Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/260247.php
In the landmark study, the researchers found that when sunlight touches our skin, a compound called nitric oxide that helps lower blood pressure, is released into our blood vessels.
The researchers note that rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease rise in winter and are tied to geographic latitude (for instance they are higher in northern Europe than in southern Europe). Also, estimates show that in northern Europe, for every death from skin cancer, about 60 to 100 people die of stroke and heart disease linked to high blood pressure. This new study is important because until now it was thought that sunlight's only benefit to human health was production of vitamin D, which rises after exposure to the sun.
Weller and colleagues found that the body's production of nitric oxide is separate from production of vitamin D.
Of course, nitric oxide is a vasodilator that improves circulation.
It's a paradigm shift
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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Very interesting.
Previous studies have found that while increased vitamin D levels link to lower cardiovascular disease, oral supplements do not have an effect on this.
Human skin contains large stores of nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3). The researchers note that while nitrate is "biologically inert", the action of sunlight can reduce it to active nitrite and nitric oxide (NO).

They found that circulatory nitrate fell and nitrite rose during UV and heat exposure, but not during exposure to heat only. There was no difference in vitamin D levels.
Lower latitudes apparently experience fewer vascular or blood flow problems because of the sun exposure.
It's a paradigm shift
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cheerleader
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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Hi pairOdime--
it is fascinating research. UV rays are essential for endothelial health. It's the way we were created to work. Here's a note I wrote up in 2011 for Facebook. I dug around for research on the history of the study of UV rays and found Dr. Furchgott's research---he knew about "photorelaxation" and nitric oxide years ago. It's why sunshine is part of the endothelial health program I put together.

MS and latitude--
There is a most certain link between MS and the amount of sunshine we receive. The connection of higher MS prevalence for those living in northern latitudes has been long-established---based on 30 years of research. This fact is often used to explain why Canada, Ireland and Scotland have higher rates of MS than those who live nearer the equator.
(NOTE-This does not mean living at a northern latitude causes MS. It means there is an environmental link which has been scientifically noted regarding northern latitudes and the prevalence of MS diagnoses.)

Dr. Furchgott and the Discovery of Photorelaxation
I've been reading up on the effect of UV rays on the body, and I came back to the research of Nobel prize winning researcher, Dr. Robert F. Furchgott. He passed away in 2009, and his university keeps his web page online. Dr. Furchgott was a professor at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY---the same place where Dr. Sal Sclafani recently retired and where the first CCSVI conference was held in the US! Here's Dr. Furchgott's page--
http://www.downstate.edu/pharmacology/f ... hgott.html

Dr. Furchgott discovered the process of photorelaxation over 40 years ago. What he noted in the lab was that exposure to UV rays changed the endothelium, encouraging nitric oxide production and vasodilation of arteries. In 2009, before he passed, he stated the current working hypothesis--

The present working hypothesis is that light photoactivates some material in the vascular smooth muscle, causing the release of some product which stimulates the guanylyl cyclase to produce cGMP. We are planning experiments to test this hypothesis. One possibility is that the vascular smooth muscle in vivo accumulates some "end pro" formed from the endothelium-derived nitric oxide, and that this product releases NO intracellularly when exposed to the proper wavelengths of light.

Photorelaxation and the Cardiovascular system
Research into the connection of blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in northern latitudes continues....and the connection appears to be that of nitric oxide and UV rays.
http://circres.ahajournals.org/cgi/cont ... 05/10/1031

Interestingly, mean systolic and diastolic pressures and the prevalence of hypertension vary throughout the world. Many data suggest a linear rise in blood pressure at increasing distances from the equator. Similarly, blood pressure is higher in winter than summer.3
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For those who are interested and want to read more research, here's a fascinating paper on UV rays and MS by Dr. Hector DeLuca of the University of Wisconsin.

about the research: For more than 30 years, scientists have known that multiple sclerosis (MS) is much more common in higher latitudes than in the tropics. Because sunlight is more abundant near the equator, many researchers have wondered if the high levels of vitamin D engendered by sunlight could explain this unusual pattern of prevalence.

Vitamin D may reduce the symptoms of MS, says Hector DeLuca, Steenbock Research Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but in a study published in PNAS this week, he and first author Bryan Becklund suggest that the ultraviolet portion of sunlight may play a bigger role than vitamin D in controlling MS.

Here's Dr. DeLuca and Dr. Beckland's full paper.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/ ... l.pdf+html
cheer
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
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munchkin
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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Would a tanning bed have the same impact on the veins?
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cheerleader
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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munchkin wrote:Would a tanning bed have the same impact on the veins?
yes. It's the UV rays. In fact, it was a sun lamp used in the most recent study. But sunshine feels so much better....if you can find it :)
cheer
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munchkin
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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Thanks Cheer, that's kind of what I had hoped. Manitoba is full of sun right now so I'm trying to get as much exposure as I can without getting a burn. That might explain why I always noticed deterioration in spring.
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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I always felt better after 10 min in a tanning booth. Perhaps I should look at a lamp for home use?

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cheerleader
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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munchkin wrote:Thanks Cheer, that's kind of what I had hoped. Manitoba is full of sun right now so I'm trying to get as much exposure as I can without getting a burn. That might explain why I always noticed deterioration in spring.
You're not alone, munchkin. Many people have relapses/progression in the spring. It could be because we're bundled up, inside more during the winter months. People also have more heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular events in the winter/early spring.

PN--might not be a bad idea to look into a UV lamp for home use.
We're simply spoiled in southern California. Jeff has to be careful, since he's had basal cells removed from his face. But we still get our daily rays....just not too many.
cheer
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frodo
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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cheerleader wrote:
munchkin wrote:Would a tanning bed have the same impact on the veins?
yes. It's the UV rays. In fact, it was a sun lamp used in the most recent study. But sunshine feels so much better....if you can find it :)
cheer
Not so sure. A tanning bed uses UV-A rays (low frequency) while sunlight has also UV-B (higher frequency)
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cheerleader
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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here's more on the difference between UV A and B rays---sun lamps and tanning beds, which use UV A, would increase vitamin D and nitric oxide and cause photo relaxation, according to this new research. UV A rays are the longest reaching rays. But care should be taken, due to cancer risk.
UV radiation is one part of the spectrum of light that reaches the earth from the sun. At the UV end of the spectrum, the wavelengths are too short to be visible to the naked eye. They range in length from 100 to 400 nanometers (nm, or billionths of a meter) and are classified — from the longest to the shortest — as UVA (320 to 400 nm), UVB (290 to 315 nm), and UVC (100 to 280 nm). UVA rays, which penetrate deep into the skin, are responsible for tanning. UVB rays damage superficial skin cell layers, causing sunburn. UVC rays, the shortest, are considered harmless, since most UVC light is absorbed by ozone in the upper atmosphere and thus does not reach the earth. Of the UV solar radiation that does reach the earth, up to 95% is UVA, and about 5% is UVB.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newslette ... n-sunlight
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
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1eye
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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Thus, we have an answer to why things are wrong: not enough sun. Tanning beds use UVB too, which is why over-exposure (length or intensity) can cause sunburn or worse. The shorter the wave, the more energetic, and the more damage can happen. This can include skin cancer, which is a bit dangerous to compare to vascular disease in terms of death rates. You could overdo about anything.

Not enough enough sun => double whammy due to not enough vasodilation and not enough vitamin D.

I wonder if the problem with dilation leads to the loss of capillaries seen by Dr. Zivadinov.
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

Post by miri »

So tell me something new, who needs researchers for that?

When it's very cold, obviously my circulation becomes sluggish (think "black ant sluggish"),
so the blood in my heart thickens too.

In the cold, I can FEEL my heart laboring more to pump. It's also generally known that living in warm climes thins the blood, facilitating circulation, thus lowering pressure.

What they also ought to emphasize, is that warm climes expands vessels, further facilitating circulation.

But hey, hot baths & turning on humidified heat (such as via G-midifier) is as good. Why risk sun radiation, especially photosensitives who can't well tolerate same?

Just as "necessity" is the forerunner of invention, "live experience" is smarter than research.
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1eye
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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miri wrote:But hey, hot baths & turning on humidified heat (such as via G-midifier) is as good. Why risk sun radiation, especially photosensitives who can't well tolerate same?
Just as "necessity" is the forerunner of invention, "live experience" is smarter than research.
I think research is very cool. Like many patients of "MS" (and many yet to come), I can't tolerate hot baths. Sun is great, though. I'm from around the 49th parallel.
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trisca
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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This is why I bought a giant narrow band UBV light. Remember my post a few months ago? You need narrow band UVB, not tanning beds, it's the type used to treat psoriasis and eczema.

And you may also remember my post on whether or not the go to a neurologist. I did, and I was given a really great one. He's young, knowledgable and open minded. He doesn't seem to think much of older neuros in relation to ms because he says all the knowledge has come in the past 5 years and they're stuck in the past. Anyway, he approves of my light purchase, he says that taking vitamin d 10,000mg is good but there's more to it than that. He also even said that diet is important, he approves of my low-fat diet (mostly the healthy heart diet), says that I should eat a fillet steak a week and that red wine is very good.
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cheerleader
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Re: Sun exposure promotes nitric oxide release

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trisca wrote:This is why I bought a giant narrow band UBV light. Remember my post a few months ago? You need narrow band UVB, not tanning beds, it's the type used to treat psoriasis and eczema.

And you may also remember my post on whether or not the go to a neurologist. I did, and I was given a really great one. He's young, knowledgable and open minded. He doesn't seem to think much of older neuros in relation to ms because he says all the knowledge has come in the past 5 years and they're stuck in the past.
Hi Trisca--
you're right, UVB lights are used to treat skin conditions, because those powerful rays effect the top layer of skin, called the epidermis, But what we're talking about here is getting the deeper cells of the blood vessels inside the dermis, called the endothelium, to release nitric oxide (NO). And that takes UVA. I've been writing about the healing power of NO for a few years now, and with the help of an endothelial researcher, have put together a program to address this aspect. Would love to know what your great neuro thinks about it. (and congrats on finding an open-minded doc!!)
Here's the program:
http://www.ccsvi.org/index.php/helping- ... ial-health

Here's some recent research on the benefits of UV rays--including A and B
Several human skin diseases, like psoriasis, vitiligo, atopic dermatitis and localized scleroderma, can be treated with solar radiation (heliotherapy) or artificial UV radiation (phototherapy). UV exposure can suppress the clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis independently of vitamin D synthesis. Furthermore, UV generates nitric oxide (NO), which may reduce blood pressure and generally improve cardiovascular health. UVA-induced NO may also have antimicrobial effects and furthermore, act as a neurotransmitter. Finally, UV exposure may improve mood through the release of endorphins.

UVA radiation penetrates more deeply into the skin than UVB, and reaches not only epidermis, but also dermis with blood vessels affecting dermal dendritic cells, dermal fibroblasts, endothelial cells, mast cells, and granulocytes.80 UVA radiation is absorbed by pyridine nucleotides (NAD and NADP), riboflavins, porphyrins, pteridines, cobalamins and bilirubin.80 Porphyrins and riboflavins are photosensitizers. UVA effects are dominated by indirect DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen. The ability of UVA radiation to cause skin erythema is approximately 103 to 104 times lower than that of UVB. As UVA-1 is even less erythematogenic than broadband UVA, much higher doses of UVA-1 can be tolerated by the patients. UVA-1 phototherapy works mainly through induction of apoptosis of skin infiltrating T cells, T-cell depletion and induction of collagenase-1 expression in human dermal fibroblast.40,81
http://www.landesbioscience.com/journal ... _text=true

But the truth is, the sun gives us the full spectrum of rays--and that's the best way, if you can find it where you live, and enjoy it in moderation.
take care,
cheer
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
http://ccsviinms.blogspot.com
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