A study published in the July 10 online edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology states that the number of melanoma cases among women has increased 50% between 1980 and 2004, while the rates for men leveled off. The study was conducted on men and women aged 15-39 and suggests that there has been no significant result of skin cancer education upon young women.
See the article for steps to protect yourself from the sun, recognizing melanoma, and more information from the American Cancer Society.
As a lupus patient, and because I do get a lot of sun exposure as a runner, and because my grandfather had skin cancer and lupus, I have to be that much more diligent about wearing sun screen, the right type of clothing, etc. As a teenager growing up on the beach, it was a status symbol to wear a stripe of zinc oxide on my nose, but a smart one. Peeling skin after getting a burn was not a good thing, nor pretty. It seems my generation is being ignored in our warnings to young people about the dangers of over-exposure to UV rays.
Why do you think young women are not doing enough to protect their skin?
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Actor George Hamilton is probably best known for his tanned looks and he seemed to set the standard for "the Hollywood" image for a generation. How he achieves that deep tan, who knows!
Then, we went through the Marisa Berenson "period" when pale was the new look. I remember a magazine photo of her, years ago, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and fashionably covered limbs while basking on a beach.
Tanned skin hasn't always been the badge of an affluent lifestyle, the sign that you've enough time and money to bask on the beach or on a yacht. It was once the badge of hard labor in the fields and unthinkable that a proper young lady would be exposed to more than enough sun to just put a little pink in her cheeks, too pale being a sickly appearance.
Nowadays, we regard tanned skin as a healthy image, as long as it's not leathery. When I worked for a leading skin care/cosmetics firm for a few years during my professional career, we were continually reminded that there is no such thing as a healthy tan - meaning sun-induced. Hence, the marketing of self-tanning lotions, and now "gentle tanning" lotions that gradually add color with continued use (versus the near-instant impact). These are a far cry from the old orange dyes (although some are still rather intensely oddly colored).
I admit to using a self-tanning lotion - to even out my tan lines from my running clothes, and to balance my right arm with my left (exposed to sun while driving my car). Fortunately, mine is olive skin that gives me a little "head start" on the tan look, lol!
July 11, 2008 - 5:36pmThis Comment
For me, this goes back to image. Tans are now considered a status symbol implying that you have a lot of leisure time (and therefore a lot of money) to lounge on the beaches and cruise ships of the world. Well at least for the last 25 years, this has been the case.
So instead of sun protection, we have sun damage. While self-tanners have been on the market for years, I always hear comments about how they make your skin orange, too much ends up on your elbows and ankles and how much it stains your clothes, so apparently, if you follow such trends, that's out as well.
It's funny how things like this change over time. I remember reading an article a year ago, how in Asia, where white skin was favored as dark skin symbolized peasantry, tanning is gaining in popularity. China apparently got its first tanning bed about this time last year. I imagine they'll experience the same trends in cancer.
July 11, 2008 - 11:23amThis Comment