Pharmacy Daily | Sunlight caution

Exposure to sunlight causes immunosuppression in the skin, ageing changes and skin neoplasia. As we are all living longer, it is important to limit our exposure to sunlight as much as possible. Simple measures such as limiting exposure to the high intensity sunlight between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm, wearing sun protective clothing including broad brimmed hats, and sunglasses, and providing as much shade as possible in play and work areas are important. Sunscreens should be applied regularly during the day especially if swimming and drying the skin. These should be classed as broad spectrum, indicating good protection in the UVA range of ultraviolet light. My personal preferences for UVA blockers are avobenzone especially if photostabilised, and zinc oxide and titanium oxide. Sunscreens probably also need to be applied when driving a car as UVA can penetrate window glass. Since one pathway to skin cancer involves the production of free radicals in the skin, causing DNA damage and mutations in key genes, it has long been hoped that vitamins, acting as anti-oxidants, would prevent or reduce the incidence of skin cancer. Niacinamide is the amide of vitamin B3, niacin. Nicotinic acid is converted to niacinamide in the skin. Unlike nicotinic acid, niacinamide doesn’t usually cause flushing. Oral and topical niacinamide have been shown to prevent the immunosuppression arising from sunlight exposure to the skin. In mice, niacinamide has also been shown to prevent skin cancer, but this has yet to be proven in humans. It may be that niacinamide becomes a useful component of sunscreens in the future. It is particularly important to limit sun exposure in infancy, and to avoid episodes of sun burning. Sunburning is most closely linked to the risk of developing melanoma. This week’s contributor is Dr Rod Hannaford, Dermatologist Consultant with Skin and Cancer Foundation Australia.

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