TY - JOUR T1 - Books: <em>Chasing the Sun: The New Science of Sunlight and How it Shapes Our Bodies and Minds</em> JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 80 LP - 80 DO - 10.3399/bjgp20X707957 VL - 70 IS - 691 AU - Rhodri Evans Y1 - 2020/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/70/691/80.1.abstract N2 - Linda Geddes Wellcome Collection,2019, PB, 256pp, £6.99, 978-1781258330The sun has had bad press. As GPs we correctly declaim grim warnings to our patients about skin cancer. We rightly warn of the sharp rise in malignant melanomas, the risks of sunbathing on holidays, and frequenting those tanning salons that benight our high streets. On the other hand, we are aware of the sun’s benefits in the production of vitamin D. My results inbox daily has at least one patient with low vitamin D, and we seem to be testing it for a range of conditions, physical and psychological, with a corresponding increase in prescribed vitamin D supplementation.The health benefits of sunlight have been known for centuries. Hippocrates built a solarium at his treatment centre on the Greek island of Kos, and a fellow physician, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, recommended sunlight for ‘lethargics.’ More recently, Florence Nightingale would position patients … ER -