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    The health benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risk of skin cancer

    (www.economist.com)
    279 points petethomas | 12 comments | 19 Sep 25 04:46 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source | bottom
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    calebm ◴[19 Sep 25 06:12 UTC] No.45298453[source]▶
    I am very white, but getting sun feels very healthy for my skin. Obviously I don't want to get burned bad, but good sun exposure helps my skin feel softer and less inflamed. My grandfather also spent most of his days out in the sun gardening, and my mom was just commenting a few months ago about how surprisingly smooth his skin is (and he's 92).
    replies(4): >>45298462 #>>45298598 #>>45298775 #>>45304728 #
    1. trallnag ◴[19 Sep 25 07:12 UTC] No.45298775[source]▶
    And then another person (of North European ancestry looks) like a brown leatherbag at 50. Anecdotal evidence is sadly not worth a lot.
    replies(2): >>45298804 #>>45298953 #
    2. Ekaros ◴[19 Sep 25 07:16 UTC] No.45298804[source]▶
    Some pictures of truck drivers are also good counter examples. The side with more exposure tend to look older.
    3. anonzzzies ◴[19 Sep 25 07:39 UTC] No.45298953[source]▶
    Many of those smoke or used to smoke, a lot (continues). I live in a country village in south EU and you can see immediately which of the farmers smoke and which don't. Most of them do, but the ones that don't have smooth skin and look younger than they are, the others look like leather bags indeed and older than they are. I guess you can get the same skin without smoking, I just don't see those here.
    replies(2): >>45301713 #>>45309864 #
    4. ndsipa_pomu ◴[19 Sep 25 13:54 UTC] No.45301713[source]▶
    It's instructive to look at people who drive for a living. One arm will have significantly more sun exposure than the other and it's trivial to spot the difference as the sun does have a very noticeable aging effect.
    replies(2): >>45305307 #>>45307392 #
    5. cisasteelersfan ◴[19 Sep 25 19:15 UTC] No.45305307{3}[source]▶
    What's interesting is that sun exposure through a car window removes almost all UVB rays and most UVA rays. So it's closer to comparing lower sun exposure vs sun exposure with sunscreen.
    replies(2): >>45305798 #>>45306635 #
    6. setopt ◴[19 Sep 25 19:55 UTC] No.45305798{4}[source]▶
    If I recall correctly, the side windows on cars let through more UVA, while the front windows block both efficiently.
    7. apt-apt-apt-apt ◴[19 Sep 25 21:08 UTC] No.45306635{4}[source]▶
    Dangerously incorrect, side car windows do not remove most UVA rays.
    8. christophilus ◴[19 Sep 25 22:17 UTC] No.45307392{3}[source]▶
    I wonder, though, if they got full body sun exposure on a regular basis, if that would change things. It seems unlikely that we would have evolved to have a single part of our body exposed to the sun while the rest wasn’t.
    replies(1): >>45311972 #
    9. astura ◴[20 Sep 25 02:58 UTC] No.45309864[source]▶
    My sister moved to a southern latitude and pretty much immediately aged 20 years. Never smoked.
    replies(1): >>45310661 #
    10. anonzzzies ◴[20 Sep 25 05:30 UTC] No.45310661{3}[source]▶
    Smoking or not smoking, things don't go 'immediately', so probably something else going on there.
    replies(1): >>45312715 #
    11. ndsipa_pomu ◴[20 Sep 25 10:08 UTC] No.45311972{4}[source]▶
    > I wonder, though, if they got full body sun exposure on a regular basis, if that would change things

    Yes - their whole body would be subject to the ageing effects of the sun.

    > It seems unlikely that we would have evolved to have a single part of our body exposed to the sun while the rest wasn’t

    And yet it's common for dark skinned people to have significantly lighter palms and soles of feet as they have less exposure to the sun.

    12. astura ◴[20 Sep 25 12:20 UTC] No.45312715{4}[source]▶
    After a few years she stated looking like a old shriveled hot dog. There's no "something else," it's sun damage, and it looks awful.