When I was in grad school I did a little research project on tanning bed use and created a campaign to discourage it. I found it, find it, intriguing that white women in America believe that they will look thinner, richer and prettier with brown skin especially when our country has struggled with racism or prejudice against people of color.
It is also interesting to put this in a cultural perspective as in China, I have read, mothers will present their daughters for marriage and claim pure white skin as a significant positive attribute.
Whether or not you think tanned skin attractive, too much sun and too many burns, especially on fair skin, can lead to skin cancer. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, more new cases of skin cancer occur each year than any other cancer. Skin cancer has a low death rate, but a high rate of disfigurement. Ironic if one ends up with scars on their body in an effort to achieve their perception of beauty.
Please go to this website for important information on skin cancer and free skin cancer screening - http://www.skincancer.org/
Now some sun is a good thing as we need it to create and or synthesize vitamin D. I need sun because it moderates my mood. I just love the sun. Ten minutes of sun a day is considered safe without sunscreen by some professionals. There is not a consensus however.
Sunscreen can be helpful but not all sunscreen is the same. The FDA has been working on labeling changes for sunscreen and this was reported in an article from WebMDHealth earlier this week.
First know that UV radiation has several parts but both UVA and UVB can cause cancer. One is more related to aging the skin and damaging the eyes while the other causes the reddening and burning of the skin. Both cause DNA changes and can lead to both non melanoma and melanoma cancers.
With the new rules, no sunscreen is going to be able to state that it provides more that 50 SPF unless it can prove so in evidence based clinical trials. No sunscreen maker will be able to say that its product completely blocks the sun, is waterproof, sweat proof or offers all day protection. The label changes have been deliberated for some time and the manufacturers will have 18 months to comply once the rules are final. The labels are also going to provide advice on skin cancer prevention, such as wearing protective clothing and reapplying sunscreen often.
I would say then, if you are spending a lot of money for a product that is claiming over 50 SPF and some of the other aforementioned claims, you might save your money.
Here is the link to the article that prompted my post:
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20090521/fda-wrapping-up-sunscreen-label-changes?src=RSS_PUBLIC&print=true
1 comment:
Vitamin D deficiency has been a hot topic on the melanoma boards (www.mpip.org). I've learned so much on that board since my own diagnosis in 2005. It is so sad to see the large number of young people and even children dealing with it and even dying from it. So many are not educated enough about melanoma and often ignore skin changes until it is too late. They assume that, like other skin cancers, it can be removed and easily cured. It is imperative to catch it in its early stages. I look forward to the day when pale skin is back in vogue. I think it's lovely.
- Dana Cummings
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