New research- UV rays, nitric oxide and MS symptom relief

[AMcG]

OK. So I have picked up an old stand up tanning booth (£50 from Ebay.) It has 40 tubes in it about 6 foot long. My intention being to give myself a daily dose to help my NO and vitamin 'D' but my question is how long is appropriate for a daily dose? Any ideas?

[cheerleader]

I asked Dr. Weller about this, Ally--
He said it is important not to burn or damage the skin. The lighter your skin, the quicker the rays will take effect.
10 minutes full body daily should be enough to start. If there are any signs of burning or rash, back off in time.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/fa ... -vitamin-d

Jeff is very fair, and he gets about 10 minutes full body in direct sun daily, here is so cal. He never tans, just burns, so we're careful he doesn't get too much. He's had basal cells removed from his face. He wears a hat and sunscreen if we're going to be outside longer.

hope it helps!
cheer

[1eye]

Yes, Cece. I drink ice water all the time. It does not help me recover. After sitting in the sun for 15 minutes (in a very cool ambient air temperature) I become a noodle and only lying down for at least 30 minutes allows me to return to normal.

I welcome any suggestions on how I can avoid this "noodle" state – it is very annoying.

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lyndacarol
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In the noon sun or the lamp 20 minutes is generous. I cheat. I use a recumbent tricycle with sandals that have locking pedal clips. The clips mean my left leg will still go around, even when my right is doing all the work. When the sun's hot I use a wet do-rag under my helmet, and wet bead-filled bandanas around my neck. I get a good ride even in the hot sun. The winnd keeps the water evaporating so it stays cool. Without the trike ride you'd need a fan.

I have to be careful getting in or out because a fall would mean deep cuts if I fell on the disc brakes. They are very sharp, and I don't mean good-looking. Today no sun and it was cold so I could go 8 km. No cooling needed. I wore a warm ear cover. Unfortunately I ride slow for other cyclists so I only get out once a week when my over-70 friend comes over.

[AMcG]

Thanks for the replies Cheer and 1eye. I am really jealous of the amount of sun you both seem to enjoy. I get out as much as I can and I do have a slight tan at the moment because I spent three days last week visiting the Somme. It was warm and sunny every day in France. As soon as I returned to the UK it was cold and wet and I have not seen sunshine since.

At the moment my wonderful booth is still in pieces waiting to be assembled. My wife has refused to let me put it up in the spare bedroom so I am trying to clear a space in our 'lumber' room. It will take a while. I am thinking I will use it to achieve a reasonable tan first. Which should not take long. I will be careful. But I will then aim at a daily dose. If I am going to have a dose every day that I have to go without sunshine that will be a lot of days in the UK. In the instructions which came with the machine it suggests not to have more than 25 hours total per year which is about 5 minutes a day. I can't see me getting a lot of vitamin 'D' and nitric oxide from that. But I have no idea where the 25 hours total comes from or how reliable it is.

I think what I really need to do is experiment with different doses for a short period and then have my vitamin 'D' levels checked. I will have to see if my GP (doctor) will go along with that. In any case I will have to wait until the lumber room is sorted. I will post again when I have actually tried it out.

Alan

[AMcG]

I am not sure if anyone is actually interested but I have made a little progress with this idea. I have just seen my GP and discussed what I want to do with him. I suggested that in October when the sun has gone (in the UK) I do a little experiment. I will use my tanning booth for 5 mins a day for a week and then have a blood test to ascertain my vitamin 'D' level. Then do 10 mins a day for a week and another test. Then do 15 mins a day and another test. From that I thought I would be able to draw a simple graph and work out what was the optimum daily dose. He is willing to co-operate and order me the tests but is unsure whether the weekly regime is appropriate. He thinks maybe I should maintain the same dose for months rather than weeks. So the tests would be months apart rather than weeks. I do also want to limit my exposure as there is a known risk of melanoma. My reasoning for the 5 - 15 mins is that this is less than the amount necessary to begin tanning according to the instructions that came with my booth It recommends 20 mins to start tanning but to build up to that.

I have also read that most modern fast tanning booths will make your skin red before it goes brown and that is certainly what I have seen when I have used modern fast-tanning booths. Also it is clear that when out in the sun you can receive an optimum dose of UV light without initiating tanning. I have also read that the point at which reddening in the skin occurs is past the point at which safe tanning occurs. All that makes me think that I certainly want to avoid reddening and that I don't need to initiate tanning so the optimum dose may actually turn out to be within the 5 - 15 mins range.

So the overall idea seems feasible but the task I am left with is to find what is the optimum period to maintain each dose before I do the test. That will depend on how quickly my body's level of serum vitamin 'D' will change in response to the change in UV dose. My GP is speculating it may be a slow change taking over a month or more. I will do my best to to find some research dealing with this but I suspect there may be people on TIMS who already know about this. I would appreciate any help or advice.

[NHE]

If you do wind up getting a burn, try using some vitamin C cream. I've found it helpful to reduce the redness from sunburns.

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p121729

[grandsons4]

Avoiding a tan doesn't seem wise, as it protects the skin from DNA damage caused by the UVA portion of the UV spectrum. A very good video on using sunlight can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMiswBTjNls.

[cheerleader]

Hi Grandson,
this thread was started to discuss how to use UV to release nitric oxide from our skin....it's not about the safety of tanning. I was responding to Alan's question about how long this might take. I asked Dr. Weller about safe length of time using UV lamps. His response (he is a peer-reviewed published scientist, dermatologist and TED talk speaker I linked on the first post)--is that it is not necessary to burn or tan the skin to create the nitric oxide release or raise vitamin D. 10 minutes should do. If people want to go beyond this time, for other benefits, that's a different topic.

Sun avoidance is a REAL problem in northern latitudes....most people don't get any sunshine for months, and their health problems may be connected to this fact. My husband and I get our rays everyday in so cal, not for hours, but enough to keep our blood flowing and vit. D levels high.
hope that explains it!
Here's Dr. Weller's TED talk once again. Highly recommended viewing---


cheer

[vesta]

Any burn (sun, stove, iron etc ) can be treated with the gooey gel inside an aloe vera leaf. Since my Hawaiin aunt showed me that I've always kept an Aloe Vera plant as basic first aid. It amazes me this simple remedy appears unknown. Vesta

[Thekla]

This makes so much sense to me. I have had low vit D and I have lived in the tropics. But here in the north, I definitely 'feel' better when I get some sun on my skin. I know late in the afternoon, I'm not getting sun that will produce vit D, but it still feels good and if I stay hydrated and don't get overheated, I feel good afterwards, otherwise, once I recover I feel good. I often need to first sit inside for 30 min.

[PointsNorth]

I see that I'm +\+ for the eNOS and VDR genes. I should post my complete profile along with analysis by a Bio-chem PhD. I purchased the following UVB lamp second hand for $125:

http://www.sperti.com/D-UV-F-Vitamin-D- ... s/1841.htm

[cheerleader]

Hi PN--
Do you have mutations/polymorphisms on the nitric oxide receptor and vitamin D receptor genes? Or an overexpression of these genes? Would be interested to know more.
cheer

[1eye]

AMcG:

Did your D levels appear to increase? Here in Ontario, Canada, the D test has been too popular, so the government won't pay for it anymore...

I am concerned about all this UV stuff. Please note:

UVA is OK (produces nitric oxide),
UVB can cause cancer (produces vitamin D)
UVC is not even contained in sunlight unless it is very very bright and unfiltered. Very high energy, short wavelength, bad stuff. (Will burn you in a very short time.)

Dr. Weller's big contribution to this discussion was that it is only the the lower-energy UVA (like what comes from blacklight bulbs) that is responsible for the NO (nitric oxide) production. Not vitamin D production, which requires the higher energy, shorter, wavelength UVB (possibly because it penetrates deeper into skin).

Of course, sunlight being fairly wide-spectrum, it will contain both A and B wavelengths, so it is good for Nitric Oxide (NO) and Vitamin D. Good for your heart and your bones.

But all you need for better heart-health is UVA. You can get this from a tanning bed that won't even burn you (using UVA-only bulbs). You can even get UV from LEDs.

The demographics and geography which are dependent on sunlight for "MS" to be treated or prevented, may not even require vitamin D. It might be only the UVA effect of the increased NO. But Vitamin D can't hurt... just too much sun or UVB.

Enough alphabet soup?

[gramcjk]

I have said for years sun in moderation makes me feel better. I use the (GASP) tanning booth during the winter. I will take the risk of skin cancer with the really well feelings I get in having sunshine to make my own Vitamin D. We live in Michigan, so we do not get much sun during the winter. Summer is early morning or late afternoon. Am always very careful not to spend to much time out so I do not burn. I once had a well known neurologist speak at a meeting I attended, and he said people with MS need sunshine. Not pills. Was nice to have someone in the medical profession tell "us" that we should not run from the sun. For whatever it is worth, you have my two cents. GRAMCJK

[1eye]

here in Canada, two cents isn't worth the copper it used to be printed on. you'd have to make it a nickel.