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What are UVA-rays and why are they so dangerous?


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#1 Eva Victoria

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Posted 04 February 2008 - 03:26 PM



written by Eva Victoria Sandnes

Sunlight, which is a necessity for all life on Earth, emits 5 main rays:


UVC-rays (under 290nm) that are effectively filtered by the Ozone-layer;


UVB-rays /B for burning/ (290-320nm) that are highly energy loaded hence they can burn human skin. 5% of all UV-rays reaching the Earth are UVB-rays.

UVA-rays (320-400nm).


Visible light from ca 400nm-700nm; and the last one is


Infra-red-/IR light that emits heat (700nm-app.1100nm).



UVA-rays /A for Aging/



95% of all UV-rays reaching the Earth are UVA-rays. UVA-rays are not energy loaded rays, hence they don`t cause burning. They also penetrate deaper in the skin than UVB-rays. UVB-rays reach down in the Epidermis to the Basal cell layer (wher our skin cells are being formed).

UVA-rays reach far deeper: they reach into our Dermis where our skin`s supporting fibres are located. It is like the spring in a madras. While the springs are new, they bounce back easily and the surface of the madras looks even, but when they are used the surface will not bounce back to its original state anymore.

It is exactly like our skin. When UVA-rays are let to plunder our collagen and elastin fibres our skin will look wrinkled and sagged (with age-spots/brown miscolorations).

UVA is very dangerous because it not only destroys our existing collagen and elastin fibres but it also inhibits the production of new collagen. It basically shuts down the enzymes that allow/signalize the production of new collagen.

UVA also damages our DNA\ making the damage irreversible.


Since it cannot be seen immediately, this damage takes years to be visible for the naked eye (accumulated damage) in the formation of lines, wrinkles, sagging.

Many believe that all this is part of the natural aging-process but the truth is that UVA-rays stand for 95% of all aging alone. (5% is what is genetically coded.)

It slowly (but surely) robs you of your youth!



UVA-rays are divided into 2 sub-groups: UVAII (short UVA) 320-360 nm and UVAI (long) 360-400nm. As you can already guess, UVAI is reaching deeper in our Dermis hence making even more damage.



The paradox of sunscreens available today is that they can protect well in UVB and UVAII but they still let UVAI have free access to our skin (making irreversible damage).

In Euope now it is recommended (not law!) to have sunscreen products that filter up to 360nm. In the US the requirement is about the same. In Australia min 360nm is the law!

But still 40 nm are missingL So if you don't have a properly formulated sunscreen that protects you fully in the UVA spectrum and is photo stable, it is like installing a burglary alarm and not using it while opening all the windows and doors to your house advertising that "We have an alarm but we don't use it, so come and take our possessions!"

(More about what to look for in a sunscreen, please see my previous article.)



The other side of UVA-rays is that they generate oxidizing molecules that also damage the skin.

Oxidizing molecules or oxidants (ROS) are unstable molecules lacking an electron. Since all molecules seek stability they are out there to "fetch" an additional electron to be able to stabilize themselves. This missing electron is "fetched" from our skin making the once stable molecule in our skin unstable and starting a cascade of unstable molecules seeking stability in our skinL This process takes also years before it starts to be visible in the formation of wrinkles.



Our bodies have effective inbuilt antioxidants. Otherwise we could not survive more than a few hours after birth. But the efficiency of these antioxidants are lower and lower the older we get and the more we have been to exposed to UVA/UVB rays.

The most known ROS is Hydrogen Peroxide.

AntiOxidant molecules (that have an extra electron to spare, hence making ROS stable) hence are very useful in protection against oxidants.

We can differentiate between to types of antioxidants: "one-time" and the "renewable" ones.

The "one-time" ones become unstable after "giving away" their electron hence becoming unstable and oxidants themselves L Vitamin C or Vitamin E alone is a "one-time" antioxidant.

"Renewable" ones are the ones that after "giving" away an electron can come back to their original state and be able to stay stable hence can function as an antioxidant again. Vit-C + Vit-E together can function like this (though for a short time only). There are 2 very good stable, renewable antioxidant complexes today: 15% Vit-C+1% Vit-E+1% Ferulic Acid; and EUKARION-134 a manganese based chalating antioxidant complex. (See my previous post).



Conclusion:

Using the right sunscreen with high UVA protection can protect your youth- fibres, and eliminate appr. 55% of all free-radical damage. The remaining 45% can be neutralized by using stable antioxidants every day directly applied to cleansed skin before an SPF!

Remember: no sunscreen can ever protect you 100% neither can antioxidants! The best is to avoid unnecessary sun exposure. All suntanning on the beach or on a tanning bed will add to your already (unavoidable/every day) exposure!





PS: Other oxidants are cigarette smoke (that oxidizes even more than UVA-rays), pollution, chemical substances.


Posted Image
DNA damage from UVA light

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Edited by Eva Victoria, 04 February 2008 - 06:55 PM.





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