What is it about?
Shining ultraviolet radiation- normally found in sunlight- at healthy volunteers lowered their blood pressure, by relaxing and dilating their arteries. This effect was caused by release of a substance called nitric oxide from stores in the skin and was not caused by Vitamin D, or a temperature rise.
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Why is it important?
High blood pressure is the leading cause of premature death and disease in the world, as it underlies heart disease and stroke. Sunlight has been linked to low blood pressure in the past, but it has been thought that this was due to vitamin D production. A growing body of data shows that vitamin D has no effect on blood pressure and in this paper we show how UV radiation can lower BP by an entirely separate mechanism
Perspectives
I am a dermatologist and my profession's main interest in sun lies in its skin cancer inducing effects. I hope that this paper will bring some balance to this discussion, as we have shown a significant benefit on blood pressure, the biggest killer in the world,
Richard Weller
University of Edinburgh
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: UVA Irradiation of Human Skin Vasodilates Arterial Vasculature and Lowers Blood Pressure Independently of Nitric Oxide Synthase, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, July 2014, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1038/jid.2014.27.
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