Ten minutes of daily exposure is enough to reduce the risk of chronic inflammatory bowel disease in children.
Summer is coming and good news: the sun’s rays would protect children from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Researchers from the Australian National University found this in their study conducted in Melbourne.
Benefits even at short exposures
“Taking children outside to play in the sun could completely change their lives,” says Robyn Lucas, lead author of the study. With his colleagues, he analyzed the links between exposure to the sun and the risk of IBD. “We found that children who spent 30 minutes longer in the sun each day had a 20% reduced risk of developing IBD.” Even ten minutes of daily exposure is enough to benefit from the protective effects of the sun: this lowers the risk of IBD by 6%. Researchers do not yet know the causes of this link between sun exposure and IBD.
Australia is one of the countries most affected by IBD with approximately 800,000 people affected. In France, more than 100,000 people live with this type of disease, and 15% of cases concern children according to Inserm. The term IBD includes a group of diseases that affect the intestine, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. All are manifested by inflammatory attacks characterized by diarrhea, nausea, cramps, etc. Today, no treatment can cure the disease, but some can help patients live with it.
A few rules of caution
“Everyone needs a bit of sun exposure every day or at least almost every day, adds the doctor. But we’re not talking about sun roasting or sunburn.” To take advantage of the benefits of the sun, you must remain cautious and follow the basic rules: do not expose yourself to the hottest hours of the day, wear sunscreen, cover the youngest with a T-shirt, hat and eyeglasses.
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