Many psoriasis sufferers seek light therapy, the standard of which is narrowband ultraviolet B (UVB) light therapy, which mimics the portion of the sun’s invisible light rays known to trigger the skin’s production of vitamin D.

Because previous research in people with psoriasis has shown that this treatment raises levels of vitamin D and improves the skin condition, Dr. Caitriona Ryan and her colleagues at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, wondered if these benefits might be linked.

To investigate, they followed 60 psoriasis patients during an Irish winter — between October 2008 and February 2009. Half were treated with UVB light therapy three times a week until their psoriasis cleared; the others received no light therapy. Vitamin D levels in the blood were measured along the way.

The researchers found that the average patient undergoing UVB light therapy more than doubled their blood levels of vitamin D by the end of the treatment period, which most completed in about 50 days. All of them reached vitamin D sufficient levels, the researchers report in the Archives of Dermatology.

As expected, psoriasis also significantly improved with UVB light therapy. Half the patients started out with psoriasis severity scores above 7.1, and by the end of treatment half had scores of 0.5 or below.

In contrast, three out of every four patients not receiving light therapy remained vitamin D insufficient at the end of the study. They also experienced no overall improvement in psoriasis severity.

When the researchers analyzed the levels of vitamin D and the extent of psoriasis relief, however, they could find no association between the two.

“The improvement in both vitamin D status and psoriasis may be contemporaneous, but unrelated, consequences” of UVB light therapy, Ryan told Reuters Health in an email.

This finding came as no surprise to Dr. Leon Kircik of Indiana University in Indianapolis.

“Any vitamin D in the blood is not going to help psoriasis. You need it on the skin,” he told Reuters Health, pointing to topical vitamin D as an effective psoriasis treatment.

Still, he noted that UVB light therapy is one of the best and safest options for combating psoriasis. So far, it has not been shown to increase the risk of skin cancer, he said, “and it’s been used for a long time, even for pregnant women.”

But Dr. Amra Osmancevic of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden cautions that UVB light therapy remains a known human carcinogen. Its intentional use in healthy people to only induce vitamin D production is not recommended, Osmancevic told Reuters Health in an email.

SOURCE: archderm.ama-assn.org/ Archives of Dermatology, online August 17, 2010

Arch Dermatol. 2010;146(8):836-842. doi:10.1001/archdermatol.2010.195

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Narrow-band UVB therapy for psoriasis or atopic dermatitis not only improves the skin disease, but also corrects the serum vitamin D deficiency that is ubiquitous in patients with these dermatologic disorders, particularly during the winter months in northern latitudes, according to Dr. Katja Vahavihu.

It is not clear how long the narrow-band UVB-induced correction of vitamin D deficiency persists, but it does appear to be long lasting, Dr. Vahavihu reported at the annual congress of the European Society for Dermatological Research.

One month after 18 Finnish adults with psoriasis and 18 others with atopic dermatitis completed a course of narrow-band UMB, their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels remained nearly unchanged from their last treatment session, and well within the normal range.

At baseline, before starting their wintertime course of 15 narrow-band UVB treatment sessions over a 5-week period, 16 of the 18 psoriasis patients and 17 of the 18 atopic dermatitis patients were vitamin D deficient, as defined by a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 50 nmol/L or less.

After receiving a mean of 71.5 standard erythema doses in a Waldmann UV 7001 cabinet over a 5-week period, the psoriasis patients’ mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level climbed from 36.8 to 96.7 nmol/L, while levels in the atopic dermatitis patients rose from 32.2 to 98.9 nmol/L, according to Dr. Vahavihu.

Levels in 15 healthy controls jumped from about 60 nmol/L at baseline to nearly 150 nmol/L after the 15 narrow-band UVB sessions, said Dr. Vahavihu of the Tampere (Finland) University Hospital. Patient SCORAD (Scoring Atopic Dermatitis) and PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) scores were reduced by more than half with narrow-band UVB therapy.

Dr. Vahavihu reported having no conflicts of interest related to his study.

Bibliography for: “Narrow-band UVB quells disease, boosts Vit. D”

Bruce Jancin “Narrow-band UVB quells disease, boosts Vit. D”. Skin & Allergy News. FindArticles.com. 31 Dec, 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4393/is_12_40/ai_n45489974

COPYRIGHT 2009 International Medical News Group
COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning

Here’s a link to an article on Vitamin D Deficiency that you might want to read.

Research has shown that it is the UV (Ultraviolet) portion of the spectrum that helps the body create Vitamin D . This is one of the known benefits of UV. The use of sun-screens, hiding indoors from the sun as we worry about skin cancers and the like is now perhaps one of the causes of Vitamin D deficiencies in some of our population.

Dr. Michael F. Holick, author of The UV Advantage is one of the world’s experts on Vitamin D runs a website/blog called www.VitaminDHealth.org. I met Dr. Holick at Boston University many years ago along with Jim Shepherd of KBD. Jim and I were looking into the marketability of a product that Jim’s company now makes. This is a Vitamin D UV Lamp. It is not being sold as a medical device and from what I see on his website  there is no FDA approval (for Vitamin D) on the device(s) that KBD (Sperti) is selling. I am making you aware of this product only, I do not recommend its use. Please check our DISCLAIMER page on this blog.

There are many sites that recommend exposure to UV light to help with Vitamin D production in our bodies. The problem that I see is that there are no guidelines as to which wavelength(s) of UV are most effective, what energy levels are recommended or treatment/dosage times. This leads to anarchy in the field. Some are recommending UVA, some UVB but none that I see give treatment guidelines.

Our firm (www.amjo.net and www.HomePhotoTherapy.com) has avoided offering UV products for Vitamin D production as there are no clear treatment guidlines. I personally recommend that you buy a sports car, drive top down for fun in the sun. This seems to work for me.

Some sites you might want to visit:

• The UV Foundation – www.uvfoundation.org
• The UV Advantage – www.uvadvantage.org
• SUNARC – www.sunarc.org
• Explore Vitamins – www.explorevitamins.co.uk
• Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D 
• Mayo Clinic – www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/NS_patient-vitamind

Send me an email or perhaps comment below.