Episode Description
Dr. Dean Mitchell speaks with Professor Prue Hart, an international expert in photoimmunology from the Kids Research Institute in Australia, who has spent 30 years studying how UV light interacts with the human immune system. Their conversation covers the science behind why the skin, as the body's largest immune organ, can generate systemic effects well beyond where light is applied.
Professor Hart explains her clinical trial using narrowband UVB therapy in patients with clinically isolated syndrome, an early precursor to multiple sclerosis. The trial, which enrolled 20 drug-free patients, tracked immune cell function, inflammatory protein markers, and patient wellbeing over 12 months. The findings suggested that two months of phototherapy produced measurable changes in immune activity lasting at least 90 days, alongside improvements in energy, mood, and social functioning.
The conversation also addresses the practical dimensions of this therapy, including its long-standing use in dermatology for psoriasis, its safety profile relative to biologic medications, and the growing availability of at-home narrowband UVB devices. Professor Hart and Dr. Mitchell also examine the role of vitamin D as a biomarker rather than a therapeutic agent, the epidemiological connection between latitude and autoimmune disease rates, and how sunscreen use and sun avoidance factor into the broader picture of health.
Connect with Prue Hart:
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