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Introduction
Chapter 1
Your Body and Mind in the Sun
Chapter 2
The Decline of the Sun in Recent Times
Chapter 3
How Sunlight Can Prevent Serious Health Problems
Chapter 4
Sunlight: A Medicine for Diseases of the Past, Present and Future
Chapter 5
How to Sunbathe Safely, All Year Round
Chapter 6
The Merits of Getting Sunlight into Buildings
Chapter 7
Sunlight and Health in the 21st Century
Reviews
Press Reviews
Press Reviews
BOOK REVIEW
International Journal of Ambient Energy, Volume 2 1, Number 1 - January 2000Dr Richard Hobday is perhaps better known to the solar community as a leading authority on solar building design, so it may come as a surprise to read about his parallel expertise in complementary medicine and the use of the sun to prevent disease rather than to save energy. In the introduction he writes that his aim has been to restore balance to the currently rather one-sided debate on sunlight and its effect on human health. He explores the benefits of exposing your body to the sun, rather than the dangers. Going back to the very early history of medicine and architecture, he found that the first physician known to history, almost 5000 years ago, was an Egyptian called lmhotep, who was also one of the world's most celebrated architects. The second chapter is called "Your body and mind in the sun'' and starts with the comforting sentences "Sunbathing is one of life's great pleasures." and notes that in spring the sun ". . . seems to strengthen us and lift our spirits."
Several pages of basic sun and medical physics follow, and a convincing explanation for "winter blues" - caused by lack of sunlight. The third chapter looks at how sunlight can prevent serious health problems. An examination of some of the statistics shows interesting trends. In 1995, for example, almost 1400 men and women in England and Wales died of malignant melanoma. But coronary heart disease killed roughly 100 times as many. Hobday argues that if sunlight had only a small protective effect against heart disease then the number of lives saved by regular moderate exposure to the sun would greatly outweigh the number lost to malignant melanoma. Hobday is quite critical about current designs of modern hospitals and homes for the elderly, as they are not designed for sunbathing. "The days of sun lounges, verandas and porches are long gone, as is the solarium." The benefits of vitamin D and calcium for the elderly are well known, but, with current concerns about skin cancer, it is unlikely that solar radiation or sunlamps would be adopted to correct vitamin D deficiency, rather than use oral supplements. Various studies are cited to provide evidence that exposure to sunlight has beneficial effects. Death rates from cancer increase with distance from the equator, and a United States study carried out over 50 years ago showed that people living in cities above 40 degrees latitude had at least double the cancer death rate compared with those living in cities between 10 and 30 degrees latitude. Among other cancers where similar links had been established were colon, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers. Blood cholesterol levels also increase with distance from the equator. The fourth chapter largely examines some of the history of sunlight as a medicine, and starts with an overview of several current problems with conventional hospitals and illnesses. More people die in the UK each year from "hospital acquired infection" [HAI] than are killed in road accidents. Some bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Perhaps there are lessons to be drawn from the "fresh air and sunlight" regimes which were widely practised over 50 years ago. This is followed by a practical sunbathing chapter, when, where and how to do it. The final chapters look again at more recent examples of sunlight and its use in architecture, while drawing attention to the possibility that sunlight deficiency may play a much greater role in the spread of degenerative disease than is generally recognised. Hobday concludes that if you feel there may be something in what he has been writing about, proceed with caution and keep in mind those fateful words at the Temple of Apollo: "All things in moderation ... Know thyself." This is a very well written book, full of interesting information for the lay reader and clearly very carefully researched. Dr Hobday does not shrink from controversy, nor from stamping on what he perceives to be feet of clay. Thoroughly recommended for the increasing body of people who are seeking alternative methods of natural healing. Essential reading for your next holiday in the sun!
J. C. McVeigh