| Full-Spectrum
Sunlight and Cancer
There was
one experiment Ott hadn't planned, but which had a dramatic effect on
his thinking. This happened early in his career when Ott dropped and
broke his prescription glasses - and all symptoms of his arthritis
disappeared. From this, Ott considered that the full spectrum light's
effect happened not from its impact on the skin, but through the eyes.
Health &
Light continues with many more experiments on plants, animals and,
lastly, humans. Ott discusses experiments which showed that sunlight
absorbed through the eyes had dramatic effects on the pineal gland. It
is these which are of the greatest significance as far as cancer is
concerned.
 
Vita-Lite
is made by Duro-Test Lighting. It is a full spectrum light, like the
natural light of the sun. You can buy at www.full-spectrum-lighting.com.
Our
irrational fear
Ott made a
valid point when wrote in his last book, Light, Radiation and You: How
to Stay Healthy , "Mankind adapted to the full range of the solar
spectrum, and artificial distortions of that spectrum - malillumination,
a condition analogous to malnutrition - may have biologic effects".
(1) In an interview published in 1991, he
noted: "There are neurochemical channels from the retina to the
pineal and pituitary glands, the master glands of the whole endocrine
system that controls the production and release of hormones. This
regulates your body chemistry and its growth, all organs of your body,
including your brain, and how they function". (2)
Nature designed us so that the
tanning pigment, melanin, in our skin was the right shade to protect us
from the sunlight: black in equatorial regions, gradually getting
lighter in colour as we get further from the equator and the strength of
the sun diminishes. Our skin is designed specifically for the latitude
at which we have evolved.
The same is true of our eyes - the
different colour irises are the most obvious feature. Again they are
black at the equator and pale blue in Scandinavia. In other words, we do
not need the 'protection' afforded by sunglasses, we need the sunlight
that we have evolved in.
So why are we so afraid of the sun?
There are three distinct bands of
UV light: UVA, UVB and UVC. Excessive exposure to just one of them, UVC,
the shortest wavelength, is known to damage living tissue. It is this
wavelength that is used to kill bacteria. In a laboratory experiment,
anaesthetized animals, had their eyes held open and intense UV light was
shone into them, damaging their retinas. That's it! On the strength of
this, authorities conclude that we should avoid all UV.
But while UVC is found in tanning
salons and halogen lamps, (3) very little
is present in sunlight (see sunlight.html). In fact, we need the trace
amounts of UV radiation in natural daylight for physical and mental
health, civilized behavior, muscle strength, energy and learning. (4)
Full-spectrum sunlight and cancer
Despite what we are led to believe about sunlight, cancers don't seem to
survive for long in it. In one experiment, a tumour-susceptible strain
of mice lived more than twice as long under full-spectrum light as they
did under standard lighting, and rats exposed to full-spectrum light had
significantly lessened tumour development. (5)
Six major medical centers confirmed these findings . (6)
Dr Jane C Wright, directing cancer
research at Bellevue Memorial Medical Center in New York City in 1959,
was fascinated by Ott's ideas. Advised by Ott, Dr Wright instructed
fifteen cancer patients to stay outdoors as much as possible that summer
in natural sunlight without wearing their glasses, and particularly
without sunglasses. By that Autumn, the tumours in 14 of 15 had not
grown, and some patients had got better. Ott wondered why the fifteenth
had not benefited. He discovered that this woman had not fully
understood the instructions - while she had not worn sunglasses, she had
continued to wear her prescription glasses. This blocking of UV into her
eyes was enough to stop the benefits enjoyed by the other fourteen. (7)
 UV
benefits leukemia . . .
In 1961,
with five times the national average incidence, an elementary school in
Niles, Illinois, was found to have the highest rate of leukemia of any
school in the USA. Because of the intense glare from the sun, in the
newly-constructed building in which glass had been used extensively, the
teachers in two of the classrooms kept the blinds drawn and the children
were exposed all day only to 'warm-white' fluorescent light.
All of the
children with leukemia were being taught in these two classrooms. After
several years of keeping the blinds drawn and the fluorescent lights on,
the teachers in these two classrooms left and were replaced with
teachers who preferred to let the sunlight in. At the same time, the
warm-white fluorescents were replaced with cool-white lights. From 1964,
the time of Ott's last visit, there were no further cases of leukemia
reported in that school. (8)
. . . and
other cancers
 After
one of his lectures, Ott sat next to the daughter of the late Dr Albert
Schweizer at dinner. They talked mainly about her experiences as
assistant to her father at Lambarene, Gabon, on the West Coast of
Africa. Ott asked her about the rate of cancer in the people of that
area. She replied that, when her father had first started hospital, they
found no cancer at all but now it was a problem. Ott asked her if the
people living there had started installing glass windows and electric
lights. She said they had not.
Ott then
asked her jokingly if any of the natives wore sunglasses. She looked
startled and told Ott that the natives paddling their dugout canoes down
the river in front of the hospital often wore no more than a loincloth
and sunglasses; indeed some wore only sunglasses. She explained that
sunglasses represented a status symbol of civilization and education and
had a higher bartering value than beads and other such trinkets.
In another
case, Ott learned from an elderly acquaintance that he had been
diagnosed with cancer of the prostate and surgery had been recommended.
Ott found that for many years this man had been wearing eyeglasses with
a light pink tint and was able to persuade him to stop wearing those and
get full spectrum, ultraviolet transmitting spectacles. Ott also advised
him to cut down watching television and spend more time outdoors. At the
time of writing his book, Ott reports that the man has gone three years
without surgery and with no symptoms of his prostate cancer
A doctor,
interested in Ott's research told him of a close friend of his who had
been diagnosed as having a fast spreading terminal cancer. Life
expectancy was only estimated to be four months at best. Although the
doctor could not see how installing fluorescent tubes with added
ultraviolet in the man's hospital room could do any good, he didn't see
any harm in trying. Accordingly Ott helped to install the fluorescent
tubes in the patient room and also install some in his room at home.
This man lived a further 10 months, was remarkably active and free of
pain during this time.
Yet another
man had been troubled with skin cancer and on several occasions had
undergone minor surgery. He was having considerable difficulty and his
doctor had recommended more surgery. On his own initiative he decided to
try ultraviolet therapy and to avoid watching television. His skin
cancers began to disappear immediately, and within for five months his
skin appeared perfectly normal without surgery or other treatment.
 Lastly,
in another incidence, several cancer patients ventured out on a fishing
expedition with Norwegian fishermen. All but one of them stayed inside
the ship but one woman stayed on deck. She recovered; her fellow
patients died of their cancers. (9)
Ott has been
criticised for making no scientifically controlled human studies to
support his statements. This criticism is unjustified: Ott applied many
times for funds to conduct studies, but even with the backing of leading
oncologists, he was continually refused them. (10)
Similarly, funding for continuation of Dr Jane Wright's study above was
withdrawn. It may sound cynical, but one has to be realistic - who can
make money promoting sunlight?
Conclusion
Because of
the lack of clinical studies, all the above cases are regarded as being
merely anecdotal. However, there are so many examples of the benefits of
ultraviolet light through the eyes, that we would be foolish to
disregard them. Our irrational fear of ultraviolet light may well do us
far more harm than good.
Under these
circumstances, it might be a good idea to wear prescription glasses made
of material that does not cut out ultraviolet light, and wear sunglasses
which have a neutral grey shade to reduce the amount of light across the
whole spectrum equally.
Note: the
sign UV400 on sunglasses means that they cut out all wavelengths shorter
than 400 nm, but for our health we really need to allow UV down to 315
nm.
References
1.
Ott, JN. Light, Radiation and You: How to Stay Healthy . Devin-Adair
Publishers, Greenwich, CT, 1990.
2. Ott JN. Interview by Bland JS. Prev Med Update
1991; (Jan).
3. Ceder K. Healthy office lighting: A bright idea.
Healthy Office Rep 1992; 2: 3-4.
4. Kime Z. Sunlight . World Health Publ, Penryn, CA,
1980. And Downing D. Daylight Robbers . Arrow Books, London, 1988.
5. Ott JN. Lecture to Society for Clinical Ecology,
1974.
6. Ott, JN. Light, Radiation and You: How to Stay
Healthy .
7. Ott JN. Health & Light . Devin-Adair
Publishers, Greenwich, CT, 1973. p 60.
8. Ott JN. Health & Light .
9.
Ott, JN. Light, Radiation and You.
10. Ott, JN. Light, Radiation and You . Op cit
Last
updated 3 August 2002 |
