A STUDY in the British Medical Journal showed that people in the UK are more likely to die of heart disease in winter than in summer, which is believed to be because of low levels of vitamin D. Where you live in the UK also matters. Blackpool has 27 per cent more hours of sunshine a year than Burnley - and 9 per cent fewer deaths from coronary heart disease.
Cholesterol levels also rise in winter, according to reports in medical magazine The Lancet, and this is because our vitamin D levels fall.
And Dr Holick found that exposing people with high blood pressure to UVB rays in a tanning salon lowers blood pressure by similar amounts as prescribed drugs.