Heliocare has been available in Europe for years but this summer is the first time the pill will be available in major drug stores in the United States.
The drug is made from extracts of a tropical fern and has been used for skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. Now it is being used to treat sun damaged skin from the inside out.
Heliocare should be taken daily and it does not protect against sunburn but rather helps when sunburn occurs. For this reason health experts still recommend using sunscreen when being exposed to the sun.
Los Angeles dermatologist Dr. Jessica Wu said, "It gets into your blood stream and works from the inside out, as opposed to sunscreen which works from the outside in. So this pill mops up the damage that gets past the sunscreen you might be wearing. It also repairs damage that is done to you skin that leads to skin cancer."
Wu recommends that people take the pill every morning before they go outside and an additional pill about a half an hour before being exposed to the sun. She said the pills maximum benefits are realized within two hours of taking the drug so an additional pill should be taken every two hours.
This may pose a problem for those who cannot afford the going rate of the drug--$60 for 60 pills.
