Just when you thought it was safe to go outside … don’t! You could die! Or at least, that seems to be the message from a study featured on NBC’s Today online: today.com/health/what-causes-melanoma-study-ranks-states-melanoma-rates-caused-uv-t174034
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Let’s jump in and cut to the chase. Using language such as …“As often as we’re told to avoid the sun to prevent melanoma, it’s still startling to see just how much sunlight is to blame for the deadliest form of skin cancer.”
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Really? Well, let me tell you something folks. Avoiding sunlight does NOT mean you will never get melanoma.
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According to the Mayo Clinic (not simply my opinion), the risk factors are:
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- Fair skin
- A history of sunburn
- Excessive ultraviolet (UV) light exposure
- Living closer to the equator or at a higher elevation
- Having many moles or unusual moles on your skin
- A family history of melanoma
- Weakened immune system
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Note that the two mentions relating to UV are linked to “overexposure,” not just exposure. Of course, the indoor tanning industry has promoted moderation and responsibility when it comes to obtaining a tan.
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How about the next comment: …“But most Americans still don’t realize how much the sun contributes to melanoma,” said Dr. Farhad Islami, the study’s lead author and scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society.
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Are you kidding me? With the copious amounts of anti-tanning/stay-out-of-the-sun messages featured in health and beauty magazines, as well as many media outlets, we are bombarded with this information.
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Next? … “Other states, like Minnesota, may have a relatively low UV index, but its residents engage in farming, enjoy going to lakes or otherwise spend a lot of time outdoors.”
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Engage in farming? Geez, I know that Minnesota has a great number of farmers growing much-needed products, but this is 2020, not 1820. The average Minnesota farmer is a 56-year-old male and they make up 0.019 of the state’s population. There are some wonderful lakes there, too, and folks do go ice fishing and play outdoors. But, according to weather us.com, the state receives as little as three hours of daily sunlight at its lowest intensity in December. And the cold weather can hit quite early in the season and stay well into the spring. Hey, the Minnesotans I know are a hardy bunch, but to link melanoma to being outdoors in a state that receives a much lower amount of UV than other states is off base. What about heredity? (which, by the way, is not mentioned in the report). Well, about 32% of Minnesotans are of Scandinavian descent. Fair skin is a melanoma risk factor – see list above. If you’ve seen the movie “Fargo,” you know what I mean.
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Here’s the last one I’ll tackle: … “Among white people – who are most often diagnosed with this skin cancer – UV-attributable melanoma ranged from 15 cases per 100,000 people in Alaska to 65 cases per 100,000 in Hawaii.” Well, let’s work those numbers. That works out to 0.00065% in Hawaii and 0.00015% in Alaska. Staggering!
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Millions of people weigh the risk and benefit of UV exposure and choose indoor facilities for cosmetic tanning, where sessions are delivered responsibly, in moderation and according to individual skin type, in tanning systems controlled by a timer to minimize the risk of overexposure and sunburn.
Team IST searches for erroneous, suspect or negative reporting by the media that adversely impacts the tanning industry. Reports such as these have plagued tanning businesses for decades. Although the media sources will seldom admit a falsehood and print a retraction, IST offers these well-crafted responses to the negative reports that can be shared with your customers and potential customers, alike.
