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[music] Hello, I’m Dr. Neal Schultz
[pause]
and welcome to DermTV.
It’s very important to distinguish between two different pills that are
associated with the sun. The first one is an herbal supplement that
actually can help protect you from sun damage and that’s good. The second
one is a very dangerous pill that’s promoted for sunless tanning and it’s
very bad for you. Let me explain. The first of these pills is actually the
first oral supplement that I know of that actually can help protect you
against ultra violet sun damage, it’s called Heliocare, it’s been available
for about 3 years and it’s an herbal supplement that comes from the Golden
Serpent Fern and it contains a very, very potent antioxidant called
Polypodium Leucotomos. Medical studies have been done and have demonstrated
a significant decrease in Ultra Violet B damage and sunburn when people
take 500mg of this pill a day. Now, to be perfectly clear, and the
manufacturer stresses this, this pill is not a substitute for topical sun
protection. It is a supplement to topical sun protection, so this alone is
not going to give you adequate sun protection but it is going to increase
protection against Ultra Violet B and therefore add to your sun protection
program. That’s very, very different from the other pill, which is called
Canthaxanthin. This pill is actually a carotenoid which is related to beta-
carotene and its promoted to give you a sunless tan but it’s illegal in the
United States and the reason that it is, is because it causes liver
disease, eye disease and there’s even a case of fatal aplastic anemia that
occurred in a patient taking this pill. It works by being absorbed into the
body and depositing in the fat and in the fat it causes a peculiar
discoloration which transmits through to the skin as a golden orange color
and this golden orange color doesn’t look like a natural tan, it’s not safe
and it’s not good for you. So bear in mind, Heliocare is good and can help
you, protect you from sun damage and Canthaxanthin is very bad and don’t
ever consider taking that to try to get a tan.