Know the Facts

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Along with regular entries about beauty and other fun, girly things, I am going to provide information about skin cancer, how to prevent it, what to look for, and a whole lot of other things to hopefully get you to think about your skin and health before heading out in the sun.

Today, I give you some statistics about skin cancer from The Skin Cancer Foundation:

• Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.
  
• Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer. More than 250,000 cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in approximately 2,500 deaths each year.
  
• One in 5 Americans and one in 3 Caucasians will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
• More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure.
• A person's risk for skin cancer doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns.

MELANOMA

• Approximately 59,940 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, with nearly 8,110 resulting in death.

	Incidence	Deaths
Men:	33,910	5,220
Women:	26,030	2,890

• More than 20 people die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma.
  
• 1 in 59 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime.
• One blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.
• While melanoma is uncommon in African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is most deadly for these populations because it is more likely to develop undetected.
  
• Survival rate for patients with early detection is about 99%. The survival rate falls to between 15 and 65% or higher, depending on how far the disease has spread.
  
• The cost of melanoma in the U.S. is more than $740 million annually.
  

TANNING BEDS

• Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Exposure to tanning beds before age 35 increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.
• Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. annually; 2.3 million of them are teens.
• On an average day in the U.S., more than 1 million people tan in tanning salons; 70% are Caucasian women aged 16-49.
• People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.
  
• Occasional use of tanning beds almost triples the chances of developing melanoma.
• New high-pressure sunlamps emit doses of UVR that can be as much as 15 times that of the sun
• The indoor tanning industry has an estimated revenue of $5 billion.
• Up to 90 percent of the visible skin changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun. These changes can be seen as early as in one's 20's.
  

Being very fair skinned, I have resisted societal pressure to tan. In the summer I may use a self tanning moisturizer, but I have never been one to tan. Sitting out in the sun sounds like a painful waste of time, and tanning beds? I'd never use one. Have you ever noticed how much a tanning bed resembles a coffin? It's just creepy.

Bottom line: be smart. Embrace your inner pale goddess. That "healthy glow" really isn't that healthy.