Guest guest Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 Walking into sunlight used to always make me sneeze, but I can't say that it was an allergic response. I don't know what causes it. Apparently about 25% of people do it but there's not much research as to why. I've read it's some kind of hereditary response and that the same part of the brain that signals the iris to contract, also signals your nose to sneeze. Whether that's really true, I don't know. And I don't experience it the way I did when I was young. But back then, I lived in Oregon where the sun was considered a UFO. Now I live in Southern California where clouds can be mistaken for UFOs. My eldest daughter feels lousy in direct sun, experiencing headaches, etc. And a close friend of mine started avoiding direct sun during our MP experiment (she used to be an avid tennis player, but started playing at night) and found that a lot of her body pain disappeared, which I'm guessing means she calmed whatever kind of inflammatory response she was experiencing from the sun. She travels quite a lot and says she still feels lousy whenever she's been out in the sun for a while. They're two of the reasons I felt there might be something to the MP d-avoidance logic, even though there's so much evidence that it actually calms inflammation, these 2 people seemed to support it. penny phagelod <mpalmer@...> wrote: I vaguely remember one or more people reporting skin rashes in response to sunlight.Do any of you experience, or have you heard of anyone experiencing, allergic reactions to sunlight--either skin allergies or exacerbations of other allergies?This paper:http://tinyurl.com/2jjm3pcan be downloaded free of charge. It demonstrates that topical application of calcitriol (the active form of vitamin D) or an analog (Dovonex; an FDA-approved ointment for psoriasis) leads to infiltration of eosinophils and CD4+ T cells (presumably Th2 cells). The effect is largely indirect, not direct, on the immune system. The vitamin D upregulates thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). It appears that TSLP then promotes a Th2/eosinophil/atopic/allergic-type response. This was dramatic at the site of application on the skin, but also occured systemically. Presumably the TSLP that is produced by the keratinocytes makes it to draining lymph nodes, spleen, etc., thereby mediating the systemic response.Since calcitriol is produced locally by the skin in response to UV light, I would think that sunlight might provoke allergic responses in susceptible people.Again, have any of you heard of these allergic responses?Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 OK, a simple Google search turns up loads of info on sunlight allergies. > > I vaguely remember one or more people reporting skin rashes in > response to sunlight. > > Do any of you experience, or have you heard of anyone experiencing, > allergic reactions to sunlight--either skin allergies or > exacerbations of other allergies? > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 > > Walking into sunlight used to always make me sneeze, but I can't say that it was an allergic response. ********This is the photic sneeze reflex and probably isn't an allergy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex > > My eldest daughter feels lousy in direct sun, experiencing headaches, etc. *****Me too. >there might be something to the MP d-avoidance logic, even though >there's so much evidence that it actually calms inflammation, these >2 people seemed to support it. ******Inflammation comes in more than one flavor. Vitamin D may tamp down " autoimmune " inflammation while ramping up " allergic " inflammation. Same goes for vitamin A. The paper I cited also showed that the retinoids (active forms of vitamin A) promote the atopy (essentially, allergy) and synergize with vitamin D in this regard. I'm thinking there may be a distinction between an acute response to vitamins A & D and a long-term response. Both vitamins seem to promote regulatory T cells and IL-10, which I suppose might eventually tamp down even an " allergic " response. I don't know. Here's a recent, high-profile paper demonstrating the induction of regulatory T cells in response to retinoids: http://tinyurl.com/2tkagd Unfortunately, the most vocal people seem to advocate for universal guidelines, when it seems to me that supplementation/avoidance should be evaluated on a case by case basis (as your statements imply). If I had allergic reactions, especially to the sun, and had a history of significant intake of vitamins A & D then I'm not sure I'd be looking to increase my intake/exposure still further. If I had MS or some other non-allergy inflammation, I'd probably increase my intake/exposure. Matt > > penny > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 Hard core sun sensitivity is very common in SLE. Can't recall whether it's rapid or delayed. > OK, a simple Google search turns up loads of info on sunlight > allergies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 Matt, I had sun reactions for about 3 years before I finally crashed with rapid onset cfs. The docs were actually testing me for lupus because I could not tolerate sun. I no longer have this problem, but neither am I completely well either, as you know. a Carnes > > I vaguely remember one or more people reporting skin rashes in > response to sunlight. > > Do any of you experience, or have you heard of anyone experiencing, > allergic reactions to sunlight--either skin allergies or > exacerbations of other allergies? > > This paper: > > http://tinyurl.com/2jjm3p > > can be downloaded free of charge. It demonstrates that topical > application of calcitriol (the active form of vitamin D) or an > analog (Dovonex; an FDA-approved ointment for psoriasis) leads to > infiltration of eosinophils and CD4+ T cells (presumably Th2 > cells). The effect is largely indirect, not direct, on the immune > system. The vitamin D upregulates thymic stromal lymphopoietin > (TSLP). It appears that TSLP then promotes a > Th2/eosinophil/atopic/allergic-type response. This was dramatic at > the site of application on the skin, but also occured systemically. > Presumably the TSLP that is produced by the keratinocytes makes it > to draining lymph nodes, spleen, etc., thereby mediating the > systemic response. > > Since calcitriol is produced locally by the skin in response to UV > light, I would think that sunlight might provoke allergic responses > in susceptible people. > > Again, have any of you heard of these allergic responses? > > Matt > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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