Beneficial effects of UV radiation other than via vitamin D production

This review article discusses the gut microbiota and vitamin D as an emerging and vital axis influencing immune aging and age-related diseases. It highlights the dual role of gut microbiota in shaping host immunity and regulating vitamin D metabolism, alongside the significant immunomodulatory potential of vitamin D in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and barrier integrity. The findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency and gut dysbiosis accelerate immunosenescence and inflammageing, contributing to unhealthy aging and increased risk of age-related diseases.

This analysis of data from almost 30,000 women from the Melanoma in Southern Sweden (MISS) cohort found that nonsmokers who avoided sun exposure had a life expectancy similar to smokers in the highest sun exposure group, indicating that avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking. Moreover, compared to women with the highest sun exposure, life expectancy for women who avoided the sun was shorter by up to 2.1 years.

This study suggests that 820,000 deaths per year in the United States and Europe and an increased incidence of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, autism, asthma, type 1 diabetes, and myopia could be attributed to insufficient sun exposure.