How to Save Your Own Skin
The rate that people develop skin cancer nowadays is regrettably reaching epidemic proportions. The reasons for this are thought to be due to changes in our lifestyle and our desire to have a sun-kissed tan.
However, by baking for hours in the sun and making countless trips to the tanning salon, we are risking our health and for many of us, our lives.
The following increases your possibility of developing skin cancer:
- a close relative who has had a melanoma
- red or blond hair and/or skin that burns without difficulty
- spending at least three summers outdoors as a teenager
- three or more sunburns that have blistered before your 20th birthday
- the appearance red rough spots on parts of the body that are not exposed to the sun
- a large number of freckles on the upper back
If even three of these factors apply to you, the risk of you developing melanoma is 20 to 25 times higher than the average person.
Many years ago, it was thought the rays from the sun provided our bodies with health. Have you noticed that many people still believe we look healthier with a glowing tan?
In fact, it is very dangerous to our health and a ‘healthy’ glow is nothing more than an illusion.
A worldwide epidemic of the deadly melanoma cancer was launched in the 60s and 70s due to our obsession for suntanned skin.
Experts have predicted skin cancer results in the deaths of 6,500 Americans every year. One in every 105 people develops a melanoma and one in five is dying of it.
An example of how this epidemic is multiplying can be summed up simply:
It was unusual to see an individual under 40 with a melanoma a decade ago. Now it is all too common for people to have it during their 20s and 30s.
It is also important to remember that the earth’s protective ozone layer is diminishing twice as fast as we originally expected.
Experts calculate that due to the earth’s shield thinning, there will be even more of the sun’s harmful rays getting through and the number of people developing skin cancer will rise even further.
The damage to the ozone layer is worse towards the North and the South Poles and in the United States. The most extensive damage is north of the line reaching from Reno Nevada, to Denver and Philadelphia.
There are also large parts of the atmosphere over Europe and around the equator which are affected.
There is also a ‘hole’ in the ozone layer over Antarctica throughout the winter. It was originally thought that the diminishing ozone layer would die down during the warmer months but it has been proved to continue during April and May when more people spend time outdoors.
The highest skin cancer rates in the world occur in Australia, which is south of the equator with many fair-skinned and fair-haired citizens of an Anglo-Saxon and Celtic origin, and, as Australians love the outdoors, they are especially susceptible.