Sunlight may be the key to preventing skin cancer
/ Couirtesy of AP GraphicsBank
Wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan have a new place to heal.
Politicians and celebrities attended the opening of The Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Tex. The $50 million military rehabilitation center is for amputees and severely burned soldiers. The high tech facility is funded by private donations.
Just four days after becoming the world's oldest living person, Emma Faust Tillman died. The 114-year-old passed away Sunday night at a nursing home in Connecticut. She was born to former slaves and lived to see 21 American presidencies. Tillman became the oldest person after a 115-year-old Puerto Rican man died last week.
It's a bit puzzling, but a new study suggests that the main cause of skin cancer--sunlight--might also help protect against the disease. Overexposure to ultraviolet B rays can lead to the disease, but UVB can also stimulate a vitamin D immune response in the skin that can fight off cancer. Just how long we should stay in the sun to help ourselves before we hurt ourselves will have to be determined by more research.
