MRSA: the Right Approach?

Sunlight kills bacteria very effectively; which is why hospitals used to be designed to admit it. Today, they are not. The germicidal properties of sunlight are not considered when buildings are being planned. One reason for this is that although human beings have been catching infections for millenia, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Eminent opinion has often held that diseases are not passed in the air. The idea that infectious diseases can be passed from person-to-person by any means other than direct contact has swung back and forwards down the centuries; from belief, to disbelief, and back again.

A contributor to the letters page of The Times on January 17, 2007 made some interesting observations about the control of MRSA and C. Difficile in hospitals. Apparently, hygiene is not the answer: the solution lies in controlling airborne infection.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2550639,00.html
On January 5, 2007 the Health Minister, Andy Burnham, stated that the Department of Health is not sponsoring research specifically focused on airborne transmission of hospital-acquired infections.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-01-05a.106282.h&s=mrsa#g106282.q0

If the airborne route is largely ignored then the part played by sunlight in reducing infections will continue to be ignored too.

City Life Causes Jet Lag?

Sunlight keeps our body clocks synchronized each day. The urban environment can inhibit this process. A major study published in the journal Current Biology concludes that the sun has less effect on the body clock of city dwellers than those living in the country. As a result, city-dwellers can suffer a form of chronic jet lag that may make them more vulnerable to health problems as well as being at greater risk of accidents.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/connected/2007/01/23/njetlag23.xml
Unfortunately, modern cities are not planned for the sun; and sunlight is being designed out of buildings. The Code for Sustainable Homes makes no allowance for the favourable influence of the sun on biological rhythms, depression or immune function. This oversight was the subject of an editorial by Melanie Thompson in the January Get Sust! newsletter, in which she very kindly referred to The Light Revolution. `Anyone involved in designing the next generation of buildings should read this book'. Melanie's words, not mine.
http://www.get-sust.com/newsletters/issue25.html

Is Passive Solar Dead?

The Code for Sustainable Homes makes no mention of passive solar design, which is disappointing. It is a tried and tested method of keeping energy consumption down. Yet, like so many other things, it goes in and out of fashion. Solar architecture was popular with the ancient Greeks, the Romans and Le Corbusier but has fallen from favour since the 1980s.

So, is arranging buildings for sunlight a dead duck as far as the UK is concerned? A debate on the subject held at Fulcrum Consulting in March 2005 suggests that there is still some life left in solar architecture. However, the motion was concerned with solar heating. The health benefits of solar design (on conditions such as depression, vitamin D deficiency and infectious diseases) don't appear to have been raised during this debate.
fulcrumfirst.com/pdf/debates/050317SolarArchitectureDebateMinutes.pdf
There appears to be only one school of architecture in the world that teaches its students about sunlight and health in buildings; at Murdoch University in Western Australia. http://energy.murdoch.edu.au/ACP/envarch/index.html.
If anyone knows of any others, do get in touch.

Sunlight, Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamin D Deficiency

The results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the 20th December show that people with high levels of vitamin D - especially those under the age of 20 - have a two-thirds lower risk of developing MS compared with those with the lowest levels measured. As with other auto-immune diseases, MS is much more common amongst people who live in regions distant from the equator, where there is less sunlight. This study highlights the importance of sunlight exposure in regulating the immune system. It also confirms that vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic in the United States.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16284822

Winter Sun

So how much sunlight should a building receive in the winter? According to BS 8206-2, the British Standard on Lighting for Buildings, interiors in which occupants have a reasonable expectation of sunlight should receive a minimum of 5% of probable sunlight hours in the winter. That is, between the 23rd of September and the 21st of March.

BS 8206-2 points out that the controlled entry of sunlight is especially valued where occupants have little direct contact with the outside world. Provision should be made for it in rooms occupied for long periods during the day, such as those for the elderly. Unfortunately, there is no obligation on anyone to do so. The health benefits are largely ignored, especially in hospitals. However, if too much sunlight is let into wards there can be health risks. One recent example of a hospital designed for sunlight illustrates the point.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/21/nheat121

Sunlight, Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamin D Deficiency

The results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the 20th December show that people with high levels of vitamin D - especially those under the age of 20 - have a two-thirds lower risk of developing MS compared with those with the lowest levels measured. As with other auto-immune diseases, MS is much more common amongst people who live in regions distant from the equator, where there is less sunlight. This study highlights the importance of sunlight exposure in regulating the immune system. It also confirms that vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic in the United States.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16284822