Tanning

[alphamale]

Bottom line is anyone is nuts if they want to deliberately expose themselves to it...Its not worth it...If you want to see this first hand go down to Florida and take a look at some of the locals, they look like shrunken head dolls and most aren't even close to the natural old age period of wrinkles..

 

when I was down in FLA I ran into someone like that, turns out he was 13

[TheFinalWord]

It would be interesting to see some kind of math on race/class/occupation/location and how that might affect who gets melanoma and who does not.

 

From the CDC:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/statistics/index.htm

 

Sex-specific epidemiological data:

 

Melanomas of the Skin Rate for Men: 28.1/100,000 people

 

Melanomas of the Skin Rate for Women: 17.8/100,000 people

 

My guess is men's incidence rate is higher because more men work outside and there's probably less emphasis and lack of education on skin protection.

 

Risk factors for skin cancer:

 

• A lighter natural skin color.
  
• Skin that burns, freckles, reddens easily, or becomes painful in the sun.
  
• Blue or green eyes.
  
• Blond or red hair.
  
• Certain types and a large number of moles.
  
• A family history of skin cancer.
  
• A personal history of skin cancer.
  

Basically, fair skin/light eyes indicates less melanin in the skin. Melanin is a skin pigmentation polymer responsible for the shade of a person's skin.

 

There was a research chemical under going clinical trials called Melanotan. Basically, you injected the chemical and it would increase a person's number of melanocytes, effectively giving someone an artificial tan. Also leading to increased protection from skin cancer. Although a tan has a rather low SPF value in and of itself. However, it was never approved by the FDA. It also had a side effect of increased libido and fat burning properties and was called the Barbie drug. I heard about it because it was popular in bodybuilding circles. A drug that would give you a tan, increased labido, and burn fat? Sign me up please lol

Edited May 8, 2019 by TheFinalWord

[anika99]

I'm curious about how everybody here seems to know folks who have/had melanoma. I've literally never known a person who had it (and discussed it.) And I live and work around a lot of outdoors people. My father in law worked in construction (among other things) and never used sunscreen. No melanoma. Same thing for my GFs' family, and many others.

 

Of course, knowing my luck I'd probably be the first out of everybody to get it, but still. Seems odd. It would be interesting to see some kind of math on race/class/occupation/location and how that might affect who gets melanoma and who does not. Something tells me sunscreen isn't the only factor.

 

Skin cancer is common but melanoma is not. Only about 1% of all skin cancers is melanoma but that number is steadily rising. Fair skinned people are about 20 times more at risk then dark skinned people. Fair skinned people who have experienced a bad sunburn in their youth are also at greater risk. I've never known anyone who has died from or had melanoma but I have known plenty of people who have had non melanoma skin cancers and they're no picnic. They have to be surgically removed and can leave you disfigured. I know 2 people who had to have surgery twice because the first surgery didn't get all of the cancer. Their second surgery was much more aggressive and left significant scarring.

 

It's just better not to tan. I regret all the years I didn't use sun protection and if I could have a do over I would slather on sunscreen as often as possible. The one good thing is that where I live in Canada, there's only about 3-4 months a years when tanning is even possible. At least that's what I tell myself when I'm mentally fretting over all the years of sun exposure I've had, lol.

 

There are so many things that put as at risk for so many types of cancers. Some of those things we can't control but some things we can and should control. We should try our best to limit our risk of getting any cancer. Don't smoke, don't drink to excess, practice safe sex, eat healthy, WEAR SUNSCREEN. We can't control the future but it's silly to deliberately choose unsafe and risky behavior

[SJS]

I went to high school with a girl who died of skin cancer about 5 years after we graduated. She had dark hair but fair skin, but very active in outdoor sports. She's the only person I've known to have died from skin cancer.

 

I'm a redhead with green eyes, so I have never had a tan, but do need to be more diligent protecting myself.

[major_merrick]

I am not an climatological expert, but I can say for sure that the sun is more intense than it was in my youth...Back then we were out all day all summer long and while I do remember being somewhat "sun fatigued" its not like it is now..

 

 

Think about this as well...Most animals disappear during the summer months during the day and wont bother venturing out, preferring to do their foraging at night or in the early dawn or late afternoon hours..They have more sense than we do..

 

 

It does seem like the sun is more intense these days than when I was younger. But then, I've always been up at night more than during the day. I have excellent night vision - daytime not so much.

 

Where I live, we have a lot of Hispanic people. "Siesta" is a big thing, especially for laborers. Lots of hot days the roofers, lawn crews, and construction teams stop working in early afternoon and rest under the trees for 2-3 hours. They'll work later in the day and go home later, rather than be out mid-afternoon. It is also a great social time, and there's usually food, drinks, music, etc...