High doses of vitamin D can cure symptoms of sunburn, says study!

New Delhi: One of the richest source of vitamin D known to mankind – sunlight – can be highly beneficial and damaging at the same time.

Getting a sunburn can be quite irritating. And UV exposure can make skin to age rapidly and can also cause skin cancer.

But, despite your best efforts to protect your skin with sunscreen, you can still get a sunburn under the scorching summer heat, especially if you are outside for long hours.

However, the same nutrient you receive from the sun can also cure symptoms of sunburn!

As per a study, high doses of vitamin D taken one hour after sunburn may significantly reduce skin redness, swelling and inflammation.

A clinical trial conducted on 20 participants revealed that participants who consumed the highest doses of vitamin D had long-lasting benefits – including less skin inflammation 48 hours after the burn.

Participants with the highest blood levels of vitamin D also had less skin redness and a jump in gene activity related to skin barrier repair, researchers said.

"We found benefits from vitamin D were dose-dependent," said Kurt Lu, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University.

Researchers hypothesised that vitamin D helps promote protective barriers in the skin by rapidly reducing inflammation.

"What we did not expect was that at a certain dose, vitamin D not only was capable of suppressing inflammation, it was also activating skin repair genes," Lu said.

The results suggest vitamin D increases skin levels of an anti-inflammatory enzyme, arginase-1. The enzyme enhances tissue repair after damage and helps activate other anti- inflammatory proteins.

"I would not recommend at this moment that people start taking vitamin D after sunburn based on this study alone. But, the results are promising and worthy of further study," Lu said.

The study was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

(With PTI inputs)