Four major lifestyle factors that endanger health are smoking, being overweight, inactivity and avoiding exposure to sun. Non-smokers, who stay out of the sun, have a life expectancy similar to smokers according to a study of 30,000 Swedish women conducted over a period of 20 years. The life expectancy for those who avoided sun dropped by 0.6 to 2.1 years vs those with the highest sun exposure. Avoiding the sun is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking, write the authors of the article by Pelle Lindqvist, MD, of Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, published March 21 in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Women who seek out the sun are generally at lower risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and noncancer/non-CVD diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and pulmonary diseases, than those who avoided sun exposure. In the study results were dose-specific, sunshine benefits went up with amount of exposure. While it is true that women should not overexpose themselves to sun, underexposure may be even more dangerous than people think.