SOLAR POWER

 

We set our sights on a sunny day, so we can stay outdoors, feel healthy and look tanned. Our culture worships the deeply tanned celebrities who often spray on their golden tan.

What we need to remember is that sunlight is crucial to our health, but not dealing with the realities of the dangers of too much exposure can be deadly.

Statistics and Facts on Skin Cancer
All statistics and numbers in this article are taken from the Canadian Council on Dermatology. (CAD), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), and the Skin Cancer Foundation Websites.

Why is it important to get the message out about the dangers of skin cancer? More importantly, why should it matter to teenagers? Childhood and adolescence are the critical time for sun protection. More than half of a person’s lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 20. The skin cancers that affect adults are partially a result of the sun damage they received in childhood and adolescence, not to mention the wrinkling and aging! Regular sun protection throughout childhood can reduce the risk of skin cancer by 80%. Many people believe that a tan is healthy and that it protects you from sun damage. In truth, a tan is a sign of skin damage which is directly linked to the development of skin cancers.

Statistics and Facts
• More than a million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year.
• One in five Canadians get cancer in the course of a lifetime.
• One of every two new cancers will be a skin cancer, comprising 33% of all cancers.

While sun is a miraculous healer, a repository of energy and crucial to our overall health, we need to be conservative about exposure and use sunscreen on every exposed area of our skin when we are outdoors. Cancer, premature aging and a number of other dermatological problems are linked directly to basking in the sun, or not wearing any or adequate sunscreen.

Options when the UV index is at its highest where you live are to:
1. Use a self-tanning cream
2. Get a long lasting spray-on tan
3. If you are swimming or playing sports in the sun use a long-lasting sunscreen product.
4. Use an SPF product which lasts more than 15 minutes, even when it is not sunny.
5. For women, use a darker shade of foundation and powder.
6. Pay attention to shifting shade and locate yourself out of direct sunlight.