In winter and spring, people tend to be depressed, depressed, unresponsive and sleepy. The reason is that the activity in these two seasons is lower than that in other seasons, and it is also related to sunshine and insufficient sunshine, which highlights the importance of sunshine exposure to human body.
In western medicine, about the benefits of sunbathing, often sunbathing on your back is a nourishing method of the ancients. But modern western medicine points out that as long as the body absorbs sunlight on weekdays, it can prevent many diseases, which is the easiest way to enjoy the grace of nature. There are also many research reports, including preventing osteoporosis, regulating sleep, enhancing immune function, depression, staying away from cancer, and even reducing the incidence of myopia in children.
Cai, an attending dermatologist at National Taiwan University Hospital, said that the modern concept of "sunbathing" as a way of keeping in good health can be said from before the industrial revolution. In Victorian times, fair and transparent skin was popular in Europe. At that time, celebrities and nobles tried to block the sun with parasols and wide-brimmed hats in order not to tan their skin.
After the 20th century, Koko? Chanel accidentally tanned her skin during a trip, which set off a wave in the upper class; At that time, aristocratic ladies regarded tanning as a symbol of health, and only those with money and leisure could enjoy the right to bask in the sun. This trend has been popular until now, and many people still think that having bronzed skin not only represents health and fashion, but also can see a group of people lying on the beach enjoying sunbathing every summer in Europe.
What diseases can sun exposure prevent?
→ Help calcium absorption and prevent osteoporosis.
"Sunbathing can synthesize vitamin D in human body, help the absorption of calcium and prevent osteoporosis. Chen Yazhen, a nutritionist at Guangxin Hospital, said that this is the most familiar effect for everyone in the sun. Osteoporosis is a chronic bone disease. Since the age of 35, calcium has been gradually lost due to the rapid loss of bone in bones. Especially for women, according to the national nutrition survey, up to 98% of women over the age of 19 in Taiwan Province Province have insufficient daily calcium intake, which is less than half of the recommended daily intake of 1000mg. The annual calcium loss of pregnant women and postmenopausal women is 3% ~ 5%. Without adequate calcium supplement, bone loss will be accelerated, the density will gradually decrease, and the bones will be covered with pores and become loose. In old age, the hardness of bones will weaken, and the bone wall will become thinner and shorter, so that it can't bear the weight of the body and lead to hunchback, even the most worrying fracture phenomenon, which will lead to death in severe cases.
Therefore, vitamin D is very important to human body. In addition to food intake, most of the vitamin D in the body comes from sunlight, and the skin can make vitamin D by itself after being irradiated by ultraviolet rays. Outdoor sun exposure combined with exercise can strengthen the endurance of osteoblast bones, promote bone blood flow, and then improve bone density, and even improve the coordination ability of the body, especially reducing the chance of falls and injuries of the elderly due to osteoporosis.
Although Taiwan Province Province is located in the subtropical zone with plenty of sunshine, people in China generally over-protect themselves from the sun, which reduces the synthesis of vitamin D. Therefore, people who are most likely to lack vitamin D are those who don't like the sun and over-protect themselves from the sun.
→ activate T lymphocytes to play a protective role and improve immune function.
The relationship between vitamin D and human immune system and resistance is also a hot topic for European and American scientists. According to the March 20 10 research report in Journal of Natural Immunology, T lymphocytes are important members of human immune system, and they need vitamin D in blood to activate protective function and enhance immunity. People with higher vitamin D content have a relatively low risk of getting sick, and even if they catch a cold, they will recover faster.
→ Reduce the incidence of cancer
The study in 2006 found that low sunshine will increase the risk of some cancers, and daily vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and the incidence of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
→ Maintain cardiovascular health and avoid heart disease and hypertension.
Adequate vitamin D in the blood can also reduce the risk of heart disease and hypertension, because the low concentration of vitamin D in the blood is not conducive to cardiovascular health, and it is easy to lead to hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency will increase parathyroid hormone, thus increasing insulin resistance, which is closely related to the increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, chronic inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.
→ Good memory, not afraid of dementia.
In recent years, both at home and abroad, people have begun to pay attention to more and more Alzheimer's disease. Because there is no effective medicine to treat dementia at present, the increase of dementia population will cause high medical expenses and social costs for society and the country, and vitamin D is also related to mental and neurological health. Older people with low blood vitamin D concentration are more likely to have problems in memory, learning and thinking. British studies have found that the proportion of people with the lowest vitamin D concentration has increased by 60% to more than half compared with those with normal vitamin D concentration, which is quite amazing; Finnish research also pointed out that people with low vitamin D content are three times more likely to suffer from Parkinson's disease than ordinary people, so more sun exposure can also prevent dementia.
→ The chance of getting asthma is low.
In recent years, the population of asthma has increased, especially in urban areas, and the population of asthma in developed countries has continued to increase. In Taiwan Province Province, according to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2002-2003, there were as many as 1 grade pupils in Taipei, 7.7% of whom were adults, and asthma was the 12 death cause of Taipei residents.
As for the United States, the prevalence of asthma increased from 7.3% in 200 1 year to 8.4% in 20 10/year. 20 1 1 American survey shows that 8.2% of adults suffer from asthma, and 9.5% of children suffer from asthma, especially urban children. Asthma is also facing the same problems and challenges in developed America.
According to foreign reports, 20 1 1 It has been reported that the concentration of vitamin D in the blood of pregnant women has a considerable relationship with the asthma rate after birth. This study is mainly aimed at 340 pregnant women in the United States. The results show that vitamin D deficiency is quite common in pregnant women. Only 29% of whites have normal blood vitamin concentration, and only 10.4% of blacks have asthma. Among pregnant women, 265,438+0% suffer from asthma. These pregnant women with asthma have low vitamin D concentration.
More importantly, the researchers also found that the higher the concentration of vitamin D in the blood of pregnant women, the lower the chance of asthma after the baby is born in the future. At the same time, it has been reported that children with low vitamin D concentration at the age of 6 have a higher incidence of asthma at the age of 14. It shows that adequate vitamin D can reduce the incidence of asthma in children and adults.
Adjust the biological clock to keep you awake at night.
Sunbathing can also help to adjust the physiological clock, because sunlight can not only make the skin produce vitamin D, but also help to secrete melatonin, which is related to human health.
The nocturnal cycle is related to sleep.
Lin Jiamo, director of the Sleep Medicine Center of Guangxin Hospital, said that when people are in the daytime, because sunlight can inhibit the secretion of melatonin, people are less likely to fall asleep. On the contrary, after the sun goes down, the secretion of melatonin in the body will rise without sunlight. Generally speaking, the secretion of melatonin starts to rise around 7: 00 p.m. and reaches its peak at 1 1 p.m. Once the secretion of melatonin rises, you will feel sleepy and want to sleep.
Therefore, the fluctuation between sunlight and melatonin can be used to adjust the physiological clock. Especially some people go abroad on business or come back from abroad. Because of the time difference, they are falling all day. At this time, they can adjust their biological clocks by lighting. In the morning, they should get more sunshine and try to stay awake. In this way, they can postpone their sleep time and sleep much better at night.
In addition, sleep disorder is one of the common symptoms of dementia patients. Common patients are sleepy during the day, fidgeting at night, and sleep time is reversed day and night. Generally speaking, the treatment of patients with sleep disorders will give priority to non-drug methods. In addition to increasing the amount of activity during the day, drinking less caffeinated drinks at night, and taking patients out to bask in the sun and adjusting the physiological clock.
→ Produce serotonin to improve depression.
More sunshine and regular exercise are also helpful to patients with depression, which is caused by the lack of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Related research has long confirmed that serotonin can affect mood and is closely related to anxiety. The so-called antidepressant is serotonin.
According to foreign reports, researchers at Vienna Medical University in Austria have exposed subjects to different degrees of sunlight and scanned their brains. The results showed that the binding between serotonin and receptor decreased by 20-30% in subjects with less sunlight. Obviously, sunlight is related to the production of serotonin. Therefore, as long as they have more sunshine, the brain can produce more serotonin to avoid or improve depression. Not only that, but also more exercise.
→ Kill tuberculosis bacteria
Lin Jiamo said that related studies have pointed out that sunlight can kill tuberculosis, because tuberculosis is most afraid of ultraviolet rays, so indoor air circulation and sufficient light can prevent the spread of open tuberculosis.
→ * * * The retina secretes dopamine metabolism to prevent myopia.
Traditionally, it is believed that sunbathing is harmful to the eyes, not only cataracts will be reported, but also retinal diseases. Nowadays, domestic primary school students play with 3C products for mobile phones every day and wear glasses at an early age. More and more four-eyed frogs are coming. However, foreign studies have found that children's outdoor activities 10 ~ 14 hours a week can prevent myopia.
The main idea of this study is that sunlight can secrete dopamine metabolism in the retina, thus protecting the eyes. Although many doctors hold different views, some doctors in China believe that when exercising outdoors, the eyes can be relaxed from a distance, which is helpful for the adjustment and relaxation of eye muscles and can avoid pseudomyopia. Whatever the reason, it is certain that it is better to exercise outdoors often than to sit in front of the computer and stare at the screen often, whether it is children's eyes or health.
◎ Phototherapy can be done without sun exposure.
Based on the theoretical basis of sunbathing, phototherapy came into being. It is not afraid of tanning. The so-called phototherapy refers to the treatment with ultraviolet light as the light source, that is, the artificial special light source wavelength helps the brain to balance the secretion of serum amine, dopamine and melatonin, which can improve sleep and depression.
Ultraviolet light refers to light with a wavelength of about 200 ~ 400 nm, which is divided into different bands such as UVA, UVB and UVC. Different light wavelengths will affect different skin depths, and different treatments can be carried out according to needs and conditions.
For example, night anchors can use night lights to delay their sleep time to match their working hours. If he wants to advance the sleep clock, he can light it up after 4 ~ 5 am, so that the physiological clock can be advanced and adjusted to the most appropriate state. Or a mother with postpartum depression and insomnia at night, because it is not suitable for taking medicine, you can also try phototherapy. However, it should be noted that if the symptoms of insomnia are already serious, you can't just receive phototherapy.