Apply sunscreen to protect skin from sun’s searing heat

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

A dermatologist advises everyone to lavishly apply the appropriate type of un-expired sunscreen on their exposed body parts even under gloomy skies, before setting outdoors each day. Stay indoors when the sun is at its peak as sand, concrete, wind and snow reflect light that increases sunburn risk.

“Avoid using sunscreen on children younger than age six months. Instead, try to limit sun exposure. Apply generous amounts of sunscreen to dry skin 15 minutes before you go outdoors. Use sunscreen year-round, but do not let any product lull you into a false sense of security about sun exposure. Use sunscreen on all skin surfaces that will be exposed to the sun such as the neck, the tops of your feet, your ears, and the top of your head. Since UV (ultraviolet) light can pass through clouds, use sunscreen even when it is cloudy” are some of Dr. Lawrence E. Gibson’s reminders.

The medical practitioner with at least 41 years of work background shared these tips alongside everything one has to know about sun safety, under the “Mayo Clinic Expert Alert” for two reasons. It is an “intense summer” and the month of July having become the “UV Safety Awareness Month,” at least in the USA since 2017, as proposed by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Everyone needs to be reminded and hopefully becomes more alert on the harmful effects of the UV rays, which, according to Gibson comes in two forms. The UVA prematurely ages the skin with wrinkles and age spots. The UVB rays lead to sunburn. Too much exposure to both causes skin cancer.

He pointed out that the best sunscreen is that with a skin protection factor-SPF of 30: “But sunscreens with SPFs greater than 50 provide only a small increase in UV protection. High number SPFs last the same amount of time as low SPFs.”

It is wise not to use the combo of sunscreen and insect repellant for the latter has to be used “generously,” the latter, “sparingly.”

Gibson’s guidance is timely and valuable. First, the January 2021 edition of the “International Journal of Women’s Dermatology” published the “The Influence of Climate Change on Skin Cancer Incidence: A Review of Evidence” by Tennessee (USA) certified dermatologist Dr Eva Rawlings Parker.

Parker wrote: “Skin cancer risk is determined by multiple factors, with exposure to ultraviolet radiation being the most important. Strong circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that factors related to climate change, including stratospheric ozone depletion, global warming, and ambient air pollution, have likely contributed to the increasing incidence of cutaneous malignancy globally and will continue to impose a negative on influence skin cancer incidence for many decades to come…Global action to mitigate these negative impacts to humans and the environment is imperative.”

Released this late June 2021 was the “Skin Cancer Drugs Global Market Report: COVID19 Impact and Recovery to 2030.” The global skin cancer drugs market, dominated by five multi-national drug companies, is on the upswing from $1.44 billion (Dhs5.3 billion) in 2020 to $1.61 billion (Dhs6.1 billion) for the entire current year, as the “prevalence of skin cancer is driving the demand for the drugs for skin cancer. To treat such high cases, more number of innovative drugs is being manufactured.”

The World Health Organisation in its 2020 global data ranked skin cancer, particularly the non-melanoma type at fifth, with 1.20 million cases worldwide. It was next to breast cancer (2.26 million cases), lung cancer (2.21 million cases), Colin and rectum cancer (1.93 million cases), and prostate cancer (1.41 million cases).