The 33 News
March 16, 2010
DALLAS—
After a long winter, here comes the sun -- and students on spring break.Many will bask until they burn, it's vacation sun that researchers call "intense intermittent sun exposure."
Texas Health Resources dermatologist Dr. Peter Hino said he expects to be busy next week when students return to north Texas.
"We certainly do see more people come in with bad sunburns, not as many as you may think because I think a lot of them just tough it out, they don't know the damage they've done at that point in time," Said Dr. Hino.
Researchers now believe vacation sun is actually worse than daily sun exposure, the type that people who work outdoors get. Brook Anderson said she knows first hand, and back and face about intense intermittent sun exposure.
"Probably about three years ago I went down to Galveston and laid on the beach all day and was blistered," Said Brook.
It was a bad burn, the type spring breakers get. Brook said she didn't think she would burn that badly.
"I just kind of laid out there and wasn't thinking about sunscreen or anything," Said Brook who has a family history of melanoma and now gets screened once a year.
Dr. Hino believes vacation sun does increase the chance of getting basil cell, squamous cell and even potentially melanoma.
"I certainly do, I think you'll probably find on a cellular level those intense bad sunburns that there is more epidermal cell damage to the skin," Said Dr. Hino.
But every year like the swallows to Capistrano, students head for the beach and bake. Dr. Hino said his patients are getting younger and younger.
"But that invasive melanoma is on the rise, despite our best efforts and especially on the rise in young women in that age group from 15 to 39. it's alarming," Said Dr. Hino.
Especially for women like Brook who've had a vacation sunburn.
Dr. Hino said that getting base tan or going to a tanning salon before going on vacation doesn't help and simply compounds the problem.
http://www.the33tv.com/videobeta/79ee4ef0-a42e-46fc-ae17-bf8fcb001454/Health/03-16-Spring-break-and-skin-cancer
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO! Imporant information on SPRING BREAK AFTERMATH!
This was really interesting. I feel that with the increase in tanning bed usage and the desire for so many people to be tan that the prevalence of skin cancer will definitely be on the rise as our generation ages. Dr. Simmons told our human diseases class that every 10 tans in a tanning bed increases you chance for skin cancer by 400%! It is something we don't think about now that has the potential to greatly impact our future.
ReplyDeleteIts good that someone finally put the myth "getting a base tan from a tanning bed makes sun exposure safer on vacation" to rest. I dont know how many times ive heard that one. I think people want to believe that is true. The truth is you can get sun burn and skin damage from a tanning bed just as easily as you can on vacation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good article. I think not enough people know the dangers on getting sun burnt, especially over and over again. And it is a preventable if you just use sun screen and stay out of the sun for long periods of time.
ReplyDeleteThis scares me because I went to Florida for spring break, and let's just say that my roommates and I were outside in the sun every day. We left for Florida white, and came back another race. I will keep this in mind next time.
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