Sunlight treatment for asthma
Sunlight may help to treat asthma and other allergies, researchers have claimed .
The Australian research found that exposure to ultraviolet light "significantly" reduced the development of symptoms of asthma.
The findings, in Perth, Western Australia, come from research on laboratory mice.
Scientists bathed the animals in light before exposing them to substances that would cause asthma attacks.
Researchers said the sunlight seemed to suppress some of the immune reactions that cause allergy attacks.
Researcher Prue Hart, of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, said: This research clearly shows that controlled exposure to ultraviolet light markedly limits the development, incidence and severity of asthma symptoms in mice.
It appears that sunlight can suppress specific immune reactions, so we are now working to better understand that mechanism with the aim of generating new ways to prevent and treat this chronic disease.
Given that overexposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer, it is important that we isolate and separate out the beneficial elements of ultraviolet light if we are to develop a safe and effective asthma therapy.
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