Excess Sun Exposure Revisited

Posted by Anthony Lee Jun 6, 2009

Two years ago, I wrote an article about sunlight in relation to sunburns and skin cancer. As with my other articles on Suite101, I prepared it to educate the public about a health topic. Now, as the summer season is ready to begin, this is a good moment to revisit sun safety.

Based on observations of people I know and a few reports in the media, it seems that some people who love sun tanning continue to do so, even with the known risks of excessive sun exposure. This includes individuals who do so at the beach and/or tanning salons. Attempting to explain that too much sunlight causes skin damage, and raises the risk of skin cancer, may not always work to curb their habit. Often, they believe that the tanning of their skin is a beautiful thing without realizing that it's nothing more than the skin's reaction to something harmful.

If one chooses to tan, the duration should be limited and the application of sunscreen is not a bad idea. Otherwise, wearing protective clothing can help reduce the risk of sun-related skin conditions. It is true that sun exposure helps the body produce vitamin D, but, as my doctor once said, it only requires a few minutes per day of sun.

At this point, we haven't seen a major spike in the incidence of melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or basal cell carcinoma, but we shouldn't have to wait for that to happen before taking sun-related precautions. That's why I reinforce the issue I made in my 2007 article. After all, prevention is always the best form of medicine.