BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — One local health expert spoke to Fox 44/NBC Local 33 about the array of health benefits and risks during the summertime.
Family Nurse Practitioner at Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group in Walker, Todd Genre, spoke about the good and the bad.
“Negative consequences from, from prolonged sun exposure and sun damaged skin of course is skin cancer. After five sunburns, you’re actually twice as likely to develop melanoma,” said Genre.
Genre also spoke about the importance of storing prescription medication during the summer.
“Especially with certain antibiotics you can have something called photosensitivity and what that means is there’s extreme sensitivity to the sun. There’s a lot of people that are on insulin or maybe they’re on an injectable medication like Ozempic or Mounjaro. You can keep it out of the refrigerator once you use it the first time, but you cannot keep it in a hot vehicle afterwards,” said Genre.
Baton Rouge cancer center first in US to use AI technology to help patients Genre said every medication should be stored in a cool, safe place. However, you can always talk to your pharmacist to learn more.
In addition, he spoke about food borne illnesses that can occur in the summer. He said to keep an eye out for seafood-borne bacterial infections with the rising temperatures.
“One of the main things that, that comes to mind, especially those of us in Louisiana, on the coast, is Vibrio Vulnificus. It’s actually a food borne pathogen, but it can also affect you if you’re just in the water where it’s prevalent,” said Genre.
Genre said eating raw or undercooked oysters may expose you to Vibrio bacteria, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
“You, you do not know if the oyster that you are holding or are about to eat has it, so my best advice would be maybe avoid raw oysters in the summertime or if you’re going to, if you’re shucking oysters make sure to wear protective equipment,” said Genre.
However, the summertime does have positive health impacts.
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“Your body will produce vitamin D in response to sun exposure and you cannot absorb calcium without vitamin D, so if you have a vitamin D deficiency it can lead to problems like osteopenia or osteoporosis,” said Genre.
Genre also said a little bit of sun exposure helps you rest better at night. The official start of summer is Thursday, June 20
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