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Heliotherapy Treatment of Psoriasis
By Doug Tyler
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prudent exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, known as heliotherapy, has been shown to provide a number of benefits to people. UV rays are produced by the sun as well as by the tanning bed lamps used in indoor tanning beds.
Heliotherapy is the therapeutic exposure to UV and has its roots in history going back as far as ancient Greece. In the mid-1800s, European scientists began studying the benefits of heliotherapy, sometimes called light therapy. Studies focusing on UV exposure continue to this day with researchers throughout the world documenting the health benefits of heliotherapy, including, among others, a marked reduction in symptoms of the skin disease psoriasis.
Psoriasis affects 2 to 3 percent of the world population. In the early 1990s, a European researcher studied 373 Finnish psoriasis patients. The study's participants were sent to the Canary Islands for four weeks of heliotherapy in the middle of the Finnish winter. Psoriasis symptoms, which include skin sores and a scaling of skin as well as joint pain for some patients, improved markedly. Eighty-four percent of study participants reported a 75 percent improvement in symptoms. However, symptoms returned within six months in those individuals who did not continue heliotherapy treatment.
Physicians in the Northeast United States report similar findings: Patients who travel to sunny locales such as Florida report an improvement in their psoriasis symptoms that worsen when they return to the hallmark colder, less sunny climates of New England.
Relocating to the Canary Islands or enjoying an extended stay in the Florida Keys is probably not a realistic option for many people who suffer from psoriasis. For those people, indoor tanning may be the answer.
According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, controlled UV exposure results in symptom improvement in 80 percent of individuals with the disease. Controlled UV exposure can be achieved by using commercial tanning beds or residential tanning beds according to manufacturer's instructions.
About the Author
Doug Tyler, an authority in the Tanning Bed Industry with over 17 years of experience owns MasterTanning.com, a premiere Tanning Bed provider that also offers consumer information on the benefits of tanning and heliotherapy.
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/11901.html
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