Are we being too safe in the sun? How to balance the risks
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the sun shines, out come the warnings that we all need to be careful in the sun to avoid burning and the risk of skin cancer. There are, though, those who believe that sort of public health messaging isn't positive enough about the benefits of the sun.
As James Gallagher hears on the streets of Brighton, many of us know about the health benefits of vitamin d but new research suggests other benefits could be important for our health too.
Should we working harder to get a balance of taking care in the sun but making sure we get enough exposure to it?
James Gallagher looks at the evidence with Dr Richard Weller, Personal Chair of Medical Dermatology and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Zoe Venables, a dermatologist with an interest in skin cancer epidemiology at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, and Dr Margaret McCartney, GP, expert in evidence-based medicine.
This episode is produced in partnership with The Open University.
Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Assistant Producer: Katie Tomsett Editor: Glyn Tansley
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, |
| 0:05.4 | The Traitors Uncloaked. But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's |
| 0:10.6 | Saturday bonus episodes, the Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials |
| 0:16.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Rommas Sh Ranganathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, |
| 0:21.9 | it's really all about the traitors uncloked. So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, |
| 0:27.4 | listen only on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hello, I'm James Gallagher, |
| 0:36.2 | and you're about to listen to another episode of Inside Health. |
| 0:39.6 | Episodes will be released weekly wherever you get your podcasts, but if you're in the UK, |
| 0:44.0 | you can listen to the latest episodes a whole week earlier than anywhere else. |
| 0:48.2 | First, on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:50.7 | Hello there, and welcome to the Inside Health podcast with me, James Gallagher. |
| 0:54.6 | How have you been feeling in the past couple of days? |
| 0:56.7 | It has been really hot where I am and incredibly sunny. |
| 1:01.8 | And that's what we're going to be chatting about today, |
| 1:04.0 | because I think lots of us have become incredibly familiar |
| 1:07.8 | with the health risks of being in the sun for too long. |
| 1:12.6 | I've got my Factor 50 with me right now. |
| 1:15.6 | I'm actually making this program in the garden, so I should probably top up. |
| 1:19.6 | There we go. |
| 1:20.6 | Let's give it a quick rub in. |
| 1:23.6 | Well, there's the Factor 50. |
| 1:25.6 | But as well as the health risks from the sun, there are health |
... |
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