I am going to post this and everyone can do with the information what they want. I wanted to bring this dietary supplement to everyone’s attention especially those of us who take meds that put us at higher risks for skin cancer from our meds. Heliocare is a dietary supplement I have kept seen coming up at conferences and I just finished a 30 hour online conference and I decided to look a little more into it. Heliocare is Polypodium leucotomas. It is made from a fern that has been used in tribes for years. Well, what they found is how it can protect you from sun, including actinic damage, photo aging, etc. according to the lectures has no drug interactions. Heliocare advanced also has niocinamide (b3) which we have known for years helps with sun damage and is used now in tons to beauty products. I always encourage everyone to talk to their doctors, but I know we have talked about skin cancer several times on this site. Just thought this might be helpful. Have a great weekend!!!
Heliocare: I am going to post this and everyone... - MPN Voice
Heliocare
Something I've never heard of but will definitely do Some research .Thank you
Thank you for posting this. I had never heard of it but it will certainly look it up now.
Thank you sharing 🙏👋
Thanks for posting this.... certainly one to be looked at.
thank you I’ve just googled. It’s now on my shopping list.
Thank you
thank you! I am a big fan of anything natural! Are usually don’t use anything except coconut, oil or olive oil on my skin because they protect 25 SPF and 20 SPF. I never really go directly in the Sun, but stay in the shade, especially when fishing. I can’t tolerate heat on my head or neck or shoulders. I generally try to tan very slowly, increasing my exposure throughout the spring and summer. My melanine increases slowly and protects me also.
Helio care is good for me if I am invited somewhere out of the shade and have to be there for a longer period of time. Excellent, thank you
Hi Anag,
I'm sorry, but while coconut oil can possibly absorb up to 20% of UV rays, that doesn't give it a 20-SPF rating. See here:
CAN I USE COCONUT OIL AS SUNSCREEN?
Despite what many lifestyle and skin care gurus would tell you, the short answer is no.
According to a study by the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, coconut oil has an SPF of 1. That means it will take exactly 1x longer for your skin to turn red using coconut oil as SPF than with no coverage whatsoever. Coconut oil as sunscreen is also not advised by the Mayo Clinic, who estimate that coconut oil only blocks around 20% of UV rays. A few studies show that coconut oil’s SPF may be slightly higher, like this study from the University Institute of Pharmacy, which tested it at 8—which is still too low to be considered safe. Other health experts have indicated that coconut oil has a natural SPF of 4 to 5—confused? Us too. In the face of all this conflicting information, one thing remains true. Regardless of study or publication, coconut oil doesn’t offer the SPF needed to keep your skin safe from damaging UV rays.
from multiple sources.
Also:
goddessgarden.com/can-i-use....
Thanks for the information. I find the oils are working very well for me. Like I said, I am careful with the sun who is a best friend. He can also be my worst enemy. It’s all relative to skin type, lifestyle. Trying things out is always best. sunscreen ingredients, (ie) titanium dioxide (which is a metal apparently smaller than mercury) is dangerous. It crosses the blood brain barrier. That’s all I need to know. Mondsee is a lake in Austria, where I fish in the summer. They are now finding titanium dioxide in the plants which are eaten by the fish. This comes from the sunscreens of the swimmers in the summer. 😳
Hi Anag,
Wow, what a rabbit hole [or maybe wormhole is more apropos] you just sent me down.
Non-nano-TiO2 seems to be pretty safe, but the nano-TiO2 looks pretty scary.
Luckily though, the combination sunscreen/moisturizer that I use [Cerave AM] only has zinc oxide [listed as micronized = nano particulate], which so far at least seems to be a ton less concerning than the TiO2 stuff.
It would suck so very badly to find out that the sunscreen I'm using to prevent skin cancer [recurrence] is actually causing it.
Thanks again, I will be keeping my eye on the research re: this as I am re: MPN-related research.
Best,
PA
I love cerave! Use it everyday! Recommend it to everyone. So far still haven’t seen or heard of anything better or to stop recommending it. Will see what future research says!
Some nano particles products, like Silicia can be a Godsend for getting rid of aluminium in the brain or nano particle chlorella for detoxing mercury, but these metals are truly scary. Zinc is a wonderful thing for our bodies. I’ll look at Z oxide. Interesting. Isn’t it sad that we, as normal people and patients, can’t trust the people and companies that are apparently trying to „help“ us…..😒
Thanks for the interesting and eye opening discussion! 🙂
All the best
Anag
Did they present any clinical studies? Or more via good patient experience? No interactions is an unusual claim.
I will ask my Derm about it. Are you considering to recommend it in your practice?
Seems a good preventative for many, and esp Rux pts where this is an adverse reaction we see some have here.
Did not see any clinical studies presented. It was more like discussing a disease like vitiligo or how to manage actinic keratosis and this coming up from several presenters as it being recommended. One physician, Dr Ted Rosen, who I admire recommended it. He is an excellent dermatologist and always gives tips that help me improve my practice. So, I really perked up when he recommended it. And he is the one who said no interactions, but I always recommend everyone checking with their doctors and you can check with the pharmacist as well. I have started to recommend it to my patients. Pretty recently so hopefully will have an update on how it works in 6mos or so. I recommend it to my patients with lots of sun damage and ones that are concerned about cosmetic photoaging. This is just something I thought I would put out there and people can do their own research and discuss with their doctors.
Just know so many of us are on meds that make us more sun sensitive. So thought I would mention it and everyone can ask their doctors about it. Anything to help all of us on our journeys!
Was going to tell you there are studies on Heliocare site if you wanted to look at them.
Sorry for all of these “replies”. Took another look at the drug interactions. And Heliocare advanced has nicotinamide in it which is B3, and it has some drug interactions. Plain Heliocare does not have this in it. But I am like you I never believe it because everything has something! Just hoping this information is helpful. At least it starts a good conversation of sun protection.
I checked out the publications briefly. I see that there is an easily measurable outcome of skin darkening. So it is effective and I assume color change is a good predictor of cancer risk.
Agree, this is good info for many MPNs on HU and Rux, and maybe could become recommended practice when they are Rx.
I also see it doesn't claim to be immune booster. Boosters are poison for many auto immune pts.
I don’t know how much overall it would boost your immune system. My guess is it is referring to its antioxidant effects, but talk to your dermatologist and see what they think. I am going to mention it to both oncologists when I go. My guess is neither have heard of it. Just want to get their take on it.
I read your post re heliocare with great interest because I constantly worry in the summer about sun exposure and seem to acquire new lesions/ moles weekly. I am on Rux but because I am doing a clinical trial my haemo doesn't want me to take any supplements. A quick Google indicates there are sun creams and oral meds. I am wondering if I could just swop my normal sun cream for heliocare sun tan lotion. I can't see anything that states it is recommended by healthcare professionals.
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