About Sunshower | What we make, for whom and why
People are meant to be outside during the day. We perform best when we expose our skin to daylight, and to the ultraviolet component in particular. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyles have made it quite difficult for most of us to get enough daylight every day. So at Sunshower, we develop intelligent technology that can help overcome that lack of daylight simply and comfortably.
Our UVB lamp produces a safe amount of ultraviolet light that does not burn or damage the skin, but is sufficient to activate the production of vitamin D by the skin. Exposing yourself to Sunshower's low dose of ultraviolet light from the Dermasun, enables you to maintain a healthy vitamin D level, even during the winter months.
Safety
Sunshower invests a great deal of energy researching the safety of UVB technology. 'More' is not synonymous for 'better', after all, and that certainly applies to ultraviolet light. However healthy exposure to a small amount of ultraviolet light may be, too much is harmful to the skin. Indeed, it is with good reason that the WHO warns that repeated sunburn from ultraviolet light increases the risk of skin cancer.
This fact is key to our technology design process. During a session with our UVB lamps, a user receives less than twenty percent of the amount of ultraviolet light that a user receives during a session on a professional sunbed.
Because we want to exclude any risk to our clients, we asked dermatologists from the Amsterdam UMC to study the effects of our technology on the skin. That study revealed no risk whatsoever.
Vitamin D
Over the past decades, the importance of vitamin D has become increasingly clear. While in the last century scientists only considered vitamin D a prerequisite for strong bones, it is now abundantly clear that an optimal vitamin D level is also important for a strong immune system and healthy heart and blood vessels. In addition, a good vitamin D level also seems to protect against several types of cancer.
Now, health authorities and organisations such as the Voedingscentrum (Nutrition Centre) are aware of the importance of vitamin D. They advise large groups of people to take vitamin D supplements. They also recommend a maximum amount of vitamin D that people should take in the form of supplements. Our UVB technology is particularly interesting for people who prefer not to take supplements and anyone who wonders whether the prescribed maximum intake of vitamin D via supplementation is sufficient.
The potential positive effects of our products are probably not limited to vitamin D. Ultraviolet light also makes the human skin produce beta-endorphins. for example. It is not yet known exactly what effect that has on a person's health. It may help explain why people who get a lot of daylight suffer less pain, or just feel better.
Extreme
As much as Sunshower recognises the dangers of excessive ultraviolet light, we are also concerned about what we see happening in society now: the emerging conception that ultraviolet light is dangerous under all conditions, and that when it comes to ultraviolet light, 'less' is synonymous with 'better'.
This extreme impression does not correspond with recent scientific findings. Not only is it incorrect, it is potentially even dangerous. If this notion continues to spread among the population, it could have broad negative implications for public health. As a company concerned about the health of its clients, we would deeply regret this.
