24 hour forecast of the surface UV for the antipsoriatic heliotherapy in Poland.
Analyses of the spectral and broad-band UV data collected at Belsk (20.79°E, 51.84°N), Poland, show that standard broad-band instrument, Solar Light (SL) 501A, could be used for measurements of both erythemal and antipsoriatic irradiance. A prognostic model is proposed for the next-day duration of outdoor exposure required to receive a dose, the so-called minimum antipsoriatic dose (MAD), equivalent to that received by standard antipsoriatic daily treatment in the phototherapy cabinet containing TL-01 fluorescent tubes. The model uses the 24 h forecast of the column amount of ozone (to predict next day clear sky UV irradiance), and low- and mid-level cloudiness (to estimate a reduction of the clear-sky UV irradiation due to clouds). The predicted duration of sunbathing required to receive a dose of 1 MAD matches the observed value, i.e. the correlation coefficients is 0.68. If the model predicts the antipsoriatic exposure over 1 MAD threshold the observed dose will be also above this threshold in 91% of cases. Thus, the model could be used for planning the next-day outdoor exposure to clear psoriasis. Hourly resolved maps, starting from 6 am up to 1 pm (GMT), showing the duration of antipsoriatic exposure over Poland are made public. The model provides a tool for a psoriatic patient to find the sunbathing starting time and its duration, which has the same healing potential as a single indoor phototherapy session.
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: jkrzys@igf.edu.pl.
J W
JW
Krzyścin
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
J
J
Guzikowski
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
A
A
Czerwińska
Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland.
A
A
Lesiak
Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland.
J
J
Narbutt
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
J
J
Jarosławski
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
P S
PS
Sobolewski
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
B
B
Rajewska-Więch
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
J
J
Wink
D006370:Heliotherapy; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011044:Poland; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000628:therapy*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays