Summer vacation time has started. Everyone are excited for planning trip and exploring new place.
In that most important aspect to take care is your skin. Summer also brings sunshine and warmth along with invisible thing - ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
What is UV radiation?
Sun emits electromegnetic radiation of wide spectrum.UV rays are between wavelength of 100-400 nm.
What it does to skin ?
This UV radiation subdivided into three:
- UVA- Penetrate deeper into the skin and contribute to premature aging, wrinkles, and skin cancer risk.
- UVB - the primary cause of sunburn. They penetrate the outer layer of skin and cause visible, immediate damage.
- UVC - Germicidal
Here we are concern about UVA and UVB radiation.this both effect skin due to sun exposure.
What is SPF and how it is beneficial?
Sun protection factor (SPF) defined asthe ratio of the minimal erythematous dose (MED) in protected vs. unprotected skin.
According to studies A product must protect against at least 90% of UVB radiation to achieve SPF 15, 97% for SPF 30, and 98% for SPF 50.
LIMITATION:SPF measures only UVB protection. Although “broad-spectrum” labeling now requires adequate UVA protection, no universally standardized UVA rating exists globally.
This explains the widespread recommendation to reapply every 2 hours.
Preventive strategies
- Antioxidant supplement:
Polyphenol from green tea, pomegranate and resveratrol demonstrate modest protective effect.
- DNA Repair-Enhancing Products
Topical nucleotides and DNA repair enzymes (photolyase from Photobacterium leiognathi) theoretically enhance NER capacity.
- Oral Photoprotection
Nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and other compounds show promise in reducing actinic damage and non-melanoma skin cancer risk.
MBH/PS