*“Do not go out in the Sun when you get pregnant” my Grandma would always say, “else your baby would come out deformed”
“Why would you think that?” I eventually asked one day
“Do you not know that is when the evil spirits come out to play?” Came her reply.*

I usually dismissed her words as superstitious beliefs. But then, recently, I found out she was not that far from the truth. 

Oh, she was not right about the evil spirit part, but she did get the deformity part right. 

The Sun is one special aspect of our universe. Most of us are familiar with the burning function of the Sun. 
Well, it does not only burn, it heals and can cause some irreversible genetic changes. It also kills and you are about to find out how...

## Firstly, some background knowledge

What exactly is the Sun? 

<div class="pull-left"><center><img src=" ![images (44).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXb1NUhaZwRrhnjkzXBuZJJC2ve6GVUiVJSokkApTS7qb/images%20(44).jpg)"><br/><em><a href="https://www.google.com.ng/search?q=sunlight&client=tablet-android-transsion&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFwPyx9JvZAhWQJuwKHUTTAe4Q_AUICigB&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=RgAylpEhu7RfAM">The Sun</a></em></center></div>





The Sun is actually a star. It is the brightest of them all and is shaped as a nearly perfect sphere, a very very hot one at that. It lives outside our planet and gives us light, heat and some of its ultraviolet rays during the day. 

> Let us just say…  Sun’s hot and without it, man can never be hot. 

The fact is the Sun is so important that without it, life actually would not exist here on earth. 

## How does it burn? 

Despite some popular beliefs, the Sun does not burn, like we think, that is, being consumed like a paper being burnt.

A better word will be, it reacts. Remember nuclear fusion? Same thing happens in the Sun.

Two massive protons with high amount of energy crash into each other. The effect of this crash leads to large amount of energy to be released. This energy is so hot that it releases enough heat to heat up nearby elements. This heat also spreads away from the centre of the Sun to its surroundings and into space, this is the heat that gets to us here on earth.

*Now that is the Sun ‘burning’ itself.*
## How about when it burns us? 



<div class="pull-right"><center><img src=" ![images (45).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNydfAVAcwm35b9tLgvdDs99BPc4po1rF5NkXsATxKqdy/images%20(45).jpg)" /><br/><em><a href="https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1285695.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/Sunburn.jpg)">Sunburn</a></em></center></div>



When the rays from the Sun gets to us here on earth, it comes in three ways. 
-	The form that gives us heat 
-	The visible form
-	And most importantly, the well-known ultraviolet form

UV from the Sun is our major concern here. It also reflects in three ways. 
-	The part that causes tanning
-	The part that burns our skin
-	And the part our living green house hard protects us from
Or simply UV A, B and C

Tanning simply means the [melanocytes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanocyte) in our skin is bringing out melanin due to our skin’s exposure to the first form of UV light mentioned above. 

For those of us born with enough melanin in our skin, well we do not care about this part, but it is actually important to our Caucasian brothers and sisters. 

The burn on the other hand comes in when your skin gets wounded as a result of excess exposure to this sunlight. 

The cells in your skin is what actually gets hurt. Our body system tries to handle this effect by sending out blood to our capillaries in order to try fixing it-hence the redness (ouch!)

## How it kills



<div class="pull-left"><center><img src="![PSX_20180210_193901.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmauTAc31bn4fMcC8p7iA8BQk2cgCU8EEt1bQgooZnnbK1/PSX_20180210_193901.jpg)" /><br/><em><a href="https://www.google.com.ng/search?q=angry+sun+images&oq=angry+sun+images&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.7347j0j4&client=tablet-android-transsion&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgdii=W9i5E2ZXsNY1SM:&imgrc=PBAY4YjqrjoDIM:">Deadly Sun </a></em></center></div>


Ever heard of a heat stroke? 

Excessive exposure to sunlight without your body being able to cool down can lead to that. This happens most times to children and the old guys. 

Heat stroke often times leads to death. This means, if you have been walking around in the Sun for too long, try moving to a shade for a little while or drink some water, it could help to avoid this. 

The Sun also causes cancer. Remember that skin damage from changes on your skin when exposed to sunlight? Too much of that for a long period of time can cause cancer, Melanoma cancer. 

## Back to grandma
There is an increased risk of having birth defects when pregnant mothers are exposed to excessive heat especially from too much sunlight. This is where grandma comes in. The harmful UV can cause this. 

Excessive sunlight while pregnant can also lead to defects in a child’s neurological functions. 

## How it heals 

<div class="pull-right"><center><img src="![images (48).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbSRiTLkbcyMpNLxaWUF73DVVBGMYNocueHFxAu8qwur8/images%20(48).jpg)
</div>" /><br/><em><a href="https://www.google.com.ng/search?q=smiling+sun+images&client=tablet-android-transsion&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJxZ-qgZzZAhWQCuwKHbeLA0UQ_AUICigB&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=YCM-d05k7FT9ZM:">Healing Sun</a></em></center></div>


Just like our heading indicates, the Sun does not only hurt, it also has its good sides. 
For example, I was born yellow. There’s no need to go checking my dp, I am obviously black. What I mean is, I was born with what we call jaundice, lots of it. 

Guess what helped me back then?  That’s right, Mr Sunlight. 

The Sun gave me vitamin D, which helped fight off this condition. This vitamin gotten from the Sun does not only help yellow babies like me, it helps in producing more white blood cells (our body’s soldiers) thereby helping us fight diseases.

 It cuts down the risk of getting cancer (Yeah, the exact opposite of what excess of it can cause). It also promotes your body’s collection of calcium from itself and then (I’m sure you’ll love this), it helps in burning fat! 

For pregnant mothers, healthy dose of Sun helps babies to have stronger, longer and wider bones. 

In conclusion, Sunlight isn’t that bad, it is actually good for everyone, but only with minimum exposure. There are times when we cannot avoid getting out in the Sun. But then try drinking plenty water to cool down and getting into a shade from time to time helps. 
Thanks for reading! 

References

[Facts about the Sun](http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-the-sun/)
[It does not really burn](https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question36.html)
[How it kills]( https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/can-the-sun-kill-you3.htm)
[How it burns]( https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/sun-care/sunscreen5.htm)
[How it heals]( http://sunlightinstitute.org/the-healing-power-of-the-sun/)
[The Sun and Pregnancy](http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/pregnancy-birth/pregnancy/tanning/and-sunbathing.html)