Sun Protection: From Topicals to Drinks from the Tropics

It is hard not to appreciate the magnitude of effect that giant burning ball in the sky possesses. Without a doubt, the term powerful is appropriate. This term not only applies to its many roles in sustaining the planet, and the life on it, but also can be thought of in terms of its impact on our mood, energy, and ultimately our personal relation to the great outdoors. On the other side of the coin however is the ability for some of the energies it emits to wreak havoc with our skin. It drives the processes underlying skin aging, skin cancers, and even skin sensitivities. In this way again, we see its power. Ultimately, it’s the learning of how to balance both protecting ourselves properly from such damaging effects, with taking-in the many beneficial aspects the sun provides. 

This course is designed to provide a thorough review of the many facets of sun protection. To best understand sun protective interventions, we first explore details surrounding the pathophysiology of UV exposure. With a focus on both photocarcinogenesis and photoaging, we will describe the processes giving rise to such clinical and aesthetic concerns. With this as a basis, we then move into a deep review of sun protective topical products. The bulk of our focus will center around sunscreen filter ingredients. Among the topics explored will be: understanding the differences between the two filter types, and the specific filters they each contain; labelling of sunscreen products; exploring sunscreen-based research for various skin concerns; how sunscreen formulas are now accounting for the effects of the Visible Light spectrum; and common adverse effects, controversies, and debates surrounding certain filter ingredients. Extending past sunscreen filters, we will also discuss the emergence of cosmeceutical actives in sunscreen formulas. These include a variety of antioxidant compounds, sought for their ability to complement the action of filters while providing for more complete photoprotection. After-sun topicals will also be explored for their use, not only for their popular offering of post-sunburn soothing effects, but as a growing realm of protection post-UV exposure, with the inclusion of DNA repair agents to mitigate against initiation of cutaneous carcinomas. Examples of how various sunscreen filters and cosmeceutical actives may be combined in product formulation will be explored. 

The third section of this course will provide you with much information and tools for which you can effectively engage in patient education relating to sun protection behaviors. Strategies toward improving proper usage and compliance with sunscreens, and other forms of protection, will be described in detail. This will include reviewing the likes of: current sunscreen guidelines and recommendations surrounding them; optimal sunscreen application techniques; understanding the UV Index and the impact of various weather/environmental aspects on UV intensity; the role and selection of sun-protective clothing and sunglasses; and an exercise in using the information explored to help formulate your approach to countering commonly held myths surrounding sun protection.

The course will conclude with a detailed account and sampling of key dietary and nutritional/herbal oral supplemental agents researched for their photoprotective effects. Their ability to mitigate against UV-induced erythema, oxidative stress, and the processes underpinning photocarcinogenesis and photoaging are reviewed. Results of pertinent human trial data will be featured in this section. This information will help converge into a description for how some of these elements integrate into a full dietary approach as a means of adjunctive photoprotective care. Current evidence surrounding the influence of such plant-focused diets, like that of the Mediterranean diet, and the development of cutaneous carcinomas and signs of photoaging are highlighted. 

This course is beneficial for those Naturopathic Doctors and healthcare providers engaged in a general practice, as well as those who are focused on aesthetics, dermatological and/or dermato-oncological care. It is also designed to provide the course-taker with ample information, including numerous resources and references. As such, it is very much encouraged to explore these resources as a means of obtaining a deeper breadth of the topics we review.