Trump is right: UV light supports the fight against Covid-19

President Trump caused outrage once more with his suggestion that ultraviolet (UV) light could help in the fight against Covid-19 patients. His record of defying science and stepping in the footsteps of the doctors who should lead the fight against the pandemic is not helpful. However, in this case he is right.

UV rays are an invisible type of radiation that can penetrate skin cells. Though there has not been any research looking at how UV lights affects the Covid-19 virus specifically, studies have shown that it can be used against other coronaviruses, such as SARS. The radiation warps the structure of their genetic material and prevents the viral particles from making more copies of themselves. Other studies have shown that flu cases go up in Brazil during the burning season when there is more smoke in the atmosphere from forest fires and sunlight is diluted. There are also studies into using UV light as a defense against bacteria and viruses in case of biological warfare. 

Sunlight—UV light—is not the one treatment that will replace the need for vaccinations or drugs. However, it is a treatment that supports the fight against the virus; it is available to everyone, but it is not used well, if at all. It is true that exposure to too much UV light can cause skin damage and cancer. However, the social media ridicule that fell on Trump illustrates a lack of knowledge of history. Light therapy had a place in mainstream medicine until about a century ago. In 1903, a physician from the Faroe Islands, Niels Finsen, received the Nobel Prize for his work using light to treat skin diseases. 

In the early 1900s, sunlight therapy became very popular through the work of a Swiss physician who was inspired by Finsen. Auguste Rollier opened a clinic in Leysin in the Swiss Alps. He devised a detailed protocol for how to sunbathe for health. He was convinced that early-morning sun was best, and that sun exposure was most beneficial when the air was cool and at high altitude where the air was thinner allowing the rays of light to pass through more easily. Therapeutic sunbathing was done very carefully. The patients were lying under sheets and every day bigger parts of their bodies were exposed for longer periods of time. Ultimately, they would sunbathe about an hour a day. Rollier had impressive results with his therapy, particularly with tuberculosis that at that time caused one in six deaths in Europe. He documented his results in his books La Cure de Soleil (The Cure of the Sun) and Heliotherapy. Rollier attributed the therapeutic action of light to the invisible ultraviolet rays of the sun. Scientists later confirmed that he was right about that: the UV light killed the bacteria that caused tuberculosis and other diseases.

Other doctors across Europe were following in Rollier’s footsteps and offering heliotherapy as a cure for tuberculosis, lupus, skin diseases, burns, arthritis, rheumatism and nerve damage. The German military opened sun-hospitals for its soldiers during World War I. By the mid-1930s sunbathing and UV therapy had become known as the most effective treatment for many infectious diseases. Scientists also proved that UV light could cure rickets, a bone disease caused by vitamin D deficiency. However, by World War II, sunlight therapy and the interest in UV rays had disappeared. Newly discovered antibiotics were more powerful against germs than sunlight. With the rise of the pharmaceutical sciences and the drug industry, medicine lost interest in sunlight.

Today, people are afraid of the sun.

Today, people are afraid of the sun. The fear for UV light has also created the sunscreen market with a global annual value of almost $9 billion. In the days of Auguste Rollier in the early 1900s, people saw ultraviolet as a miracle medicine. Now, the same term causes people to think of cancer, damaged eyes, early aging and wrinkles. We have forgotten that Rollier advocated were careful sunbathing only during a limited time and not during the brightest hours of the day. He would have abhorred to see people lying naked on a beach in the middle of the day. But Rollier knew the healing power of sunlight. In fact, there are many studies that show that blocking ultraviolet rays severely weakens the body’s defenses. Sunlight taken up through the eyes and the skin stimulates the immune system. At the same time, there is no question that UV light in large amounts is harmful. However, in daily small amounts, UV light is essential for good health. In his book Light: Medicine of the future, optometrist Jacob Liberman, offers a long list of scientifically substantiated benefits: UV light activates the synthesis of vitamin D; it lowers blood pressure and increases the efficiency of the heart; UV light improves the blood profiles of people suffering from atherosclerosis and it reduces cholesterol; it increases metabolism and supports weight loss; UV light is an effective treatment for psoriasis and other skin diseases; it increases the level of sex hormones and it regulates the circadian rhythm.

Sunlight is the most basic and powerful nutrient available to humans. But we are not using it well. Exposing the body directly to sunlight—without putting on sunscreen—for 30 minutes or so in the morning or later in the afternoon supports the fight against Covid-19. President Trump merely repeats what scientists already knew a century ago.

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