The high price of a tan

Being a slave to the sun can cost you alot more than you may think.
Jul 4, 2011 | By: Joyce M. Palmer

5000 Canadians will be diagnosed will melanoma and 1,000 will die from it, according to the Canadian Dermatology Association. It is the eighth most common cancer and it is one of the cancers that the numbers are increasing.  A friend on mine is one of the 5000.

When she broke the news to me that she had melanoma she said that she did want to sound “arrogant” but she “never dreamed that she would have cancer.” She never smoked, eats no red meat, exercises, drinks no alcohol, and hardly drinks coffee but she loves the sun and being tanned. She is stage 3 and has no idea what her prognosis will be. As she stated “this is a very expensive price to pay for being tanned.” Many of us eat well, exercise and don’t smoke but we don’t use sunscreen and go to tanning beds. How many of us are binge tanners before vacations? Tanning beds can be as dangerous for your health as smoking, asbestos, mustard gas, and arsenic, according to the international cancer experts. So aren’t we all arrogant?  

In the female age group of 20 – 29, the risk of melanoma increases by a huge 75% with regular use of tanning beds before the age of 30. There are 2 times as many cases of melanoma diagnosed yearly than breast cancer in this age group!  Are we blinded by the UVB/UVA lights or are we arrogant?

UVB/UVA rays rob you of your youthful skin, they cause deformities from the removal of benign tumors and are proven to be deadly. The one lucky thing about melanoma is it is clearly visible on the skin and if you are a tanner or in the sun frequently, check yourself out in the mirror on a regular basis and know the “ABCD” of what skin cancer looks like:

Asymmetry: The shape of one half does not march the other.

Border: The edges are ragged and irregular.

Color: The color is uneven, and includes shades of black, brown and tan.

Diameter: Increase in size.

Check online for picture examples and if you see anything similar or find any of these changes call your medical doctor immediately. Early detection is directly linked to survival rate!

UVA/UVB protection is imperative if we want to decrease the melanoma numbers. Avoid direct sunlight until after 2pm and sunscreen with a SPF of at least 30 with an actual block is a must all year. Zinc oxide, Mexoryl XL, or titanium dioxide must be present in the 7 – 10% ranges, anything lower is not enough. Wear a hat, protective clothing, sunglasses and don’t go to tanning beds!