Please wear sunscreen this summer
It’s hot out there, Franklin County. The sun is shining bright, so here’s a little PSA from your friendly neighborhood managing editor: put on some sunscreen.
Yes, I’m about to nag you. Get ready.
We’ve all heard it before, but these quick facts from the American Academy of Dermatology bear repeating:
- Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States.
- Current estimates are that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
- It is estimated that nearly 9,500 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with skin cancer every day.
- Researchers estimate that 5.4 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, were treated in 3.3 million people in the United States in 2012.
Those are some pretty big numbers we’re talking about, and it’s no secret why this incidence is so high. Place the blame wherever you like, but the fact is, ultraviolet radiation is a proven human carcinogen – and many of us are getting too much of it.
I don’t know how many people have been treated for nonmelanoma skin cancer since those 3.3 million in 2012, but I know at least one of them. She stares back at me from the mirror every morning.
My scalp is just healing up after the third surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma. Yes, that’s right, the third time – twice in mid-2015 and then again just a couple of weeks ago.
If you’ve seen me around town, you’ve probably noted that I wear a hat pretty much everywhere, pretty much all the time. It’s not just a fashion statement – even if it has become an identifying style icon for me – it’s about skin protection.
Unfortunately, these basal cell carcinomas are delayed. They aren’t based on sun exposure from last week, or last month, or even last year. They’ve developed – according to my dermatologist – as a result of years of overexposure.
So I cringe every time I see a young person out in the blazing sun. Will they all wind up with skin cancer? No. In particular I know that I’m somewhat of a unique case because of my history of cancer and increased risk factors. I get that. But I still wish I could convince people not to take the chance.
Let me throw a few more facts at you from the AAD:
- Nonmelanoma skin cancer incidence rates are increasing in people younger than 40.
- More than 1 million Americans are living with melanoma.
- It is estimated that 161,790 new cases of melanoma, 74,680 noninvasive and 87,110 invasive, will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017.
- Melanoma rates in the United States doubled from 1982 to 2011.
- Caucasians and men older than 50 have a higher risk of developing melanoma than the general population.
- In people of color, melanoma is often diagnosed at later stages, when the disease is more advanced.
- Before age 50, melanoma incidence rates are higher in women than in men, but by age 65, rates are twice as high in men.
- Melanoma in Caucasian women younger than 44 has increased 6.1 percent annually, which may reflect recent trends in indoor tanning.
- The World Health Organization estimates that more than 65,000 people a year worldwide die from melanoma.
It’s just not something to mess around with, folks, not when prevention is so easy. Put on a hat, put on a light cover-up, put on some sunscreen. We all want to enjoy this summer – let’s just enjoy it as safely as we can.
