Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Many Therapeutic Benefits of Sunlight

Public health authorities warn of the hazards of too much sun exposure. However, excessive UVR exposure accounts for only 0.1% of the total global burden of disease in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), according to the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) report The Global Burden of Disease Due to Ultraviolet Radiation. In contrast, the same WHO report noted that a markedly larger annual disease burden of 3.3 billion DALYs worldwide might result from very low levels of UVR exposure. This burden subsumes major disorders of the musculoskeletal system and possibly an increased risk of various autoimmune diseases and life-threatening cancers.

What are the benefits that exposure to natural sunlight provide?

Sunlight and Cancer
The connection between vitamin D deficiency

How to Protect against Lyme Disease

If you live near or often spend time in a wooded area in south-western Ontario blood-sucking ticks are part of your world especially during in July and August when their populations rise. During this process, you may be wondering whether there are better ways to survive tick season, especially if you don’t want to use DEET (a chemical insecticide that may cause eye irritation, rash, or other side effects) on yourself or veterinarian-grade pesticides on your pets. Even if you do use chemicals in your tick management plan, it’s still a good idea to back them up with natural tick prevention strategies. The stakes can be high. First described in 1977 as “Lyme arthritis,” tick-vectored (transmitted) Lyme disease is now the most common critter-vectored disease in North America. More than 30,000 cases were reported in 2008, including many in towns and cities where no previous infections had been recorded. Lik