The sun looks quite different for us: it's not a speck, but a huge (with a diameter of 1.5 million kilometers) gas sphere, like a gigantic gas reactor at a distance of more than 150 million kilometers from us, inside of which endless thermonuclear reactions take place. Under the influence of all these reactions, everything inside the sun boils, bubbles, and generates a stream of very different particles, magnetic fields, radiations - all that scientists called "the solar wind". The speed of this wind is always different - when for 3-4 days, and when it is a day, it reaches us, bringing with us the visible light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation, and influencing in a certain way our health and general health.
Sunlight (visible to us part of long-wave radiation) helps us not only to see objects and navigate in space, but also is felt by our skin in the form of a thermal effect. If you do not protect the skin in time, we will get a sunburn. And under the influence of infrared radiation our blood vessels expand, dermal breathing intensifies, blood through the veins runs faster and the process of formation and absorption of all kinds of biologically active substances is accelerated. Because infrared irradiation is often used in the treatment of all kinds of diseases.
But the most biologically active part of the solar spectrum is ultraviolet radiation. Specialists subdivide this radiation into three classes: rays A, B and C. The third most dangerous for us is the so-called UFS (ultraviolet rays C), but the ozone layer of our planet does not allow them to fully wake up. But under the influence of UVA and UVB (the first and second class of ultraviolet rays), our vitamin D is produced in our skin, and it is simply impossible to obtain the quantity necessary for our body without the help of UVI - very little of it can be obtained from foodstuffs . After all, on a day our body needs 20-30 micrograms of this vitamin, and the richest yolks of chicken eggs and fish oil contain only 3-8 micrograms of vitamin D, 0.5 microns in a glass of milk, and in other foods and even less. And without vitamin D, not only will the calcium level in the blood drop, and it will begin to "wash out" of the bone tissue, but the adrenal, thyroid and parathyroid gland, cholesterol metabolism and the overall level of protection of our immune system will be compromised.
Also, under the influence of sunlight in our body begin to develop endorphins, so positively influencing us (well, how can we be sad and discouraged on a sunny day, especially when we are on vacation and we are relaxing on the beach?). And if this magical solar natural radiation is not enough, we begin to feel worse, our mental and physical health and endurance decrease, resistance to all sorts of diseases decreases, recovery slows down and the risk of musculoskeletal system damage increases.
But everything is good in moderation, and therefore in the modern world we have much more chances to get solar irradiation in an overabundance than to lose less, and this leads to the directly opposite effect. And as a result, in pursuit of smooth and beautiful sunburn for a long time and without proper protective equipment, you can get into a risk group, and get both malignant growth on the skin, and exacerbation of endocrine, or worsening of cardiovascular diseases.
But just as the "solar wind" consists not only of radiation, we should not forget about its one more component - the flux of magnetic particles, the so-called "magnetic storm". And if the action of UFI is largely mitigated by the ozone layer and the atmosphere of the planet, then we do not have such protection from magnetic fluxes. Moreover, the streams thrown out by the Sun are very diverse, so we can not uniquely classify all magnetic storms. They differ both in their strength and in the development of individual processes. But that's what really unites them, so it's their influence on the human body. Since the 1920s, data on the effects of magnetic and solar storms on health have been recorded and accumulated. And it was noticed that right after the solar flare the condition of patients sharply worsens (when sunlight reaches the surface of the Earth and begins to cause processes that affect the vital activity of the body). First of all, cardiovascular diseases were identified as related in their exacerbation with geomagnetic storms: the patients had increased arterial pressure, the frequency of myocardial infarction increased, heart rate was disturbed.
In addition, during a magnetic storm, the risk of premature birth in pregnant women increases, the number of accidents and injuries increases, the agility worsens and the general reaction in people slows down.
The sun is the source of life on our planet. But it, at the same time, is not as harmless as we would like. And although its light, heat and energy are the basis of life for plants, animals, and humans, we still need to remember about its "reverse side," and will worry about its protection from the effects of magnetic storms and the solar wind. Now you know everything about the effect of solar activity on human health.