I have many fond memories of summers spent in my youth. The tinkling of an icy diet coke; the beauty of an unread stack of Glamour Magazines; and the relief of a cool breeze interrupting the heat of an afternoon drenched in the sent of baby oil or Hawaiian Tropic… and burning flesh. Okay, I couldn't smell burning flesh, but maybe I should have. According to the University of Texas - Anderson Cancer Center, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. More than 800,000 people will be diagnosed with it this year. And, for the most part, it is caused by over-exposure to the sun.
Although most skin cancers are highly curable, the most deadly and difficult to cure, malignant melanoma, has increased more than 100% since 1973. This increase may have something to do with the reported shrinkage of nature's own sunscreen; the seemingly mysterious and much talked about atmospheric "ozone layer."
Who's safe from the sun? In short - nobody. Folks that freckle and burn may be at the highest risk, but people of all skin colors can develop skin cancer over time. Yikes! Nature's protection is vanishing, the dreaded "C" word is on the rise and no one is safe! It's enough to make you give up the hope of being able to live freely in this increasingly dangerous world. But don't fret (or resign yourself to being powerless over the forces of nature). There is good news: most skin cancers are totally preventable. By now we all know the virtues of Safe Sex - the time has come for us to embrace the virtues of Safe Sun. Here are some important things to consider if you think a tan is sexy but skin lesions are not.
