This post is part of the Take Charge of your Health blog carnival.

Beach Bummin' It
Summer is approaching quickly, and with it pool season for my kids. The availability of a community pool within walking distance was a major factor for us when it came time to decide which house to buy. In past years, the kids would very often go right after lunch and not return until just before dinner. This year will be slightly different because the older sister is not living at home to supervise. I can’t imagine I will be able to spend hours on end at the pool, but we will probably go at least three or four times a week for fresh air and exercise.

That much sun exposure, though, might raise a few eyebrows. We are a fair-haired bunch, the Irish in our ancestry keeps us all pretty pale in winter. But there is also Sioux Indian in our blood: I am a full quarter. There is no history of skin cancer in our family, so I am not overly concerned. I have also done some research and find the scientific community to be deeply split as to the causes and best prevention of skin cancer.

The American Cancer Society tell us to stay out of the sun. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m; look for shade, especially in the middle of the day when the sun’s rays are strongest; cover up with protective clothing to guard as much skin as possible when you are out in the sun; use sunscreen and lip balm with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher; cover your head with a wide-brimmed hat, shading your face, ears, and neck; wear sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV absorption; avoid other sources of UV light.

Other scientific research warns that some sunscreens plus time in the sun equals powerful free radicals that can cause skin cancer more reliably than prevent it.

Environmental change proponents postulate that a depletion in the ozone layer is causing an increase in the incidence of skin cancer worldwide.

Doctors who regularly test their vitamin D levels of the cancer patients they treat are finding widespread deficiencies. But vitamin D is synthesized from sunlight! So, does sunlight cause or prevent cancer?

Common sense would seem to indicate that something else might be at work as well as these possible factors. If humans were designed to not be able to withstand the light from our own sun without developing cancer, it is unlikely we, as a species, would have survived this long. Only in recent history has man not been exposed to bright sunlight for most of his waking hours, farming, caring for animals, hunting, gathering and traveling by foot. Only in the last several centuries has man become a creature of the indoors, spending more and more time out of the sunlight than in it. The last few decades have seen the rise of chemical sunscreens and the depletion of the ozone layer.

If man had always been an indoor dweller and the skin were just a shell, any or all of these causes would seem reasonable. But for thousands of years we have lived our lives outdoors, only escaping to buildings for sleep or during inclement weather. The fact is, our skin isn’t just a shell. It’s an organ, and our body’s largest one at that. As an organ, it is responsible for processing the sunlight into a usable form and expelling wastes.

So let me ask this: what if the rise of skin cancer is not related so much to that which is outside our bodies as that which is within? What if cancers are being caused by our overburdened skin trying to rid itself of pollutants and toxins? What if, by living our lives indoors, we are making our bodies accustomed to the lack of fresh air and sunshine. Would our bodies consider clean air and ultraviolet light invaders and send panicked emergency resources to our skin (cancer) and lungs (allergies and asthma) when we venture out? What if moderation really is the key and a time spent each day in bright sunlight and fresh air will help our body cleanse itself and remain healthier in the long run?

Just a thought.