Autoimmune diseases are those in which the body's immune system turns to attacking vital organs instead of limiting its activities to invaders. They include multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and many others. These diseases have become more common in the modern era, but there may something more to it than just the fact that people now live long enough to develop them. It may be because we don't get as much exposure to sunlight as we used to.
Now, it's true that too much exposure to sunlight over years can lead to skin cancer, but that may actually be due to the sun's role in suppressing the immune system. Photoimmunology is the recently-developed study of how sunlight affects the immune system. Therapies have been developed using devices that emit light rays in forms that do not induce cancer, with promising results in suppressing symptoms of autoimmune diseases. Read about these therapies, and the science beneath the concept, at Scientific American. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: Fiona Storey)
