Seizing morning - or "mourning" disease

Skeeter Defeaters, part 2

In the last Daily Dose, I told you about a few ways to avoid mosquito bites - and I also told you the reasons why I believe 2006 will be a banner year in the domestic history of the West Nile virus...

But in that article, I didn't mention what a lot of readers must have concluded is the most obvious (and easy) way to avoid mosquito bites: Simply staying inside.

For the most part, I'm a fan of this kind of thinking, since your odds of being bitten by a mosquito (and thus contracting deadly West Nile virus) are no doubt far less indoors than outside. However, there's a reason why I can't recommend living like a shut-in from April though October...

That reason: The SUN.

Despite what the mainstream morons say on their TV "health minutes," getting adequate amounts (at least 20 minutes) of natural, unadulterated sunlight every day is absolutely essential to your health. Why? As any long-time reader of mine knows, it's because sunlight spurs your body's generation of powerful vitamin D...

This incredible natural healer boosts immunity, strengthens bones, rejuvenates the flesh and body tissues, and increases your resistance to cancers - yes, even SKIN cancer (the sunscreen weenies will never tell you this). And unlike all other vitamins, which can be effectively supplemented, vitamin D requires sunlight for optimum bodily levels...

That's why I could never recommend a totally indoor lifestyle - even during the peak of summer mosquito season. You'd simply be trading a lesser likelihood of one disease for a greater chance of developing others. Not ideal.

Now, some may be quick to say that you CAN get adequate sun exposure from spending time each day in front of a sun-facing window. But that kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? I'm sure you'll agree that airing yourself out a little bit every day carries benefits to the mind and body beyond simply those conferred by sunlight...

And as usual, I know how you can get the best of all worlds - optimum vitamin D, quality time outdoors, AND the lowest risk of mosquito bites. Keep reading.

In case you didn't know, mosquitoes are most active and likely to bite you in the late afternoon, dusk, and at night. There's a reason for this: Heat.

Mosquitoes have poor vision. They locate their prey by smell from a distance, and by "thermal image" (body heat) up close. That means the hotter it is outside, the more likely you are to attract mosquitoes by virtue of your evaporating sweat and body odor, which is like a dinner bell to the little buzzers...

However, by limiting your time outdoors to the cool morning hours - sunrise to around 9 AM - you'll be getting plenty of lifesaving sunshine, yet greatly decreasing your likelihood of breaking a sweat (unless you're intentionally exercising like the mainstream health morons say you should).

Beyond this, there are far fewer mosquitoes active in the morning for two reasons:

One, because many of them have just finished a nighttime of gorging on the blood of other creatures - and two, because bats, those wonderful winged friends of ours, have eaten thousands of tons of them overnight in your home city. Literally, thousands of tons.

Add together fewer mosquitoes, less hungry ones, and a cool environment that neutralizes away their main location devices (heat and sweat) and you can see why mornings are best for outdoor activities, from a West Nile risk standpoint.

Also, it's just plain therapeutic to be out fishing, golfing, hunting, or just plain BEING in the beautiful, peaceful hours of early morning. So set the alarm, why don't you - and go do something you love tomorrow in the AM...

And be all the healthier for it.

Always "waking up" those who'll listen,

William Campbell Douglass II, MD