Topic summary

Light sensitivity

Light sensitivity

Extracted from the Wikipedia article Photosensitivity.

Human medicine

Particular conditions lead to increased light sensitivity. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus experience skin symptoms after sunlight exposure; some types of porphyria are aggravated by sunlight. A rare hereditary condition xeroderma pigmentosum (a defect in DNA repair) is thought to increase the risk of UV-light-exposure-related cancer by increasing photosensitivity.