I had a great chance to hang out with some polar bears and some giraffes today as my art class and I took a field trip to the zoo to "sketch" some animals. It was a perfect day, not hot, not cold, but perfect for crops and t-shirts. I have to say that my newly aquired sunburn is a perfect accessory.
As if.
Not only will I look like Po, the red teletubbie, for the next few days, but this will have an effect on my skin for years to come.
When our skin is exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays the structure and functions of our skin cells are damaged. Too much exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer, which is the uncontrollable growth of abnormal skin cells, if it's not dealt with it can spread to other tissues and even organs.... Goodness, this sounds like the inside of a doctor's office pamphlet, but the thing is not many people are changing their ways regardless of the publicity of this issue. Last year alone two million people in the United States were diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. Yes basal cell, and squamous celled skin cancers can be fairly east to treat, they can be cut out (ouch), lasered out (ouch) and dealt with afterwards dealt with a topical cream that caused the bullet-hole-like spot to puss and blister (yuch), but last year 12, 000 people died from cases of melanoma.
It can be easily avoided too. Stay cool (and subburn free) in the shade, slap on some sunscreen with an spf of atleast 30, half an hour before going out (and make sure it's waterproof if you go swimming, if the sunscreen comes off it's of no use to you, and it pollutes the water and harms the fish) or even wear a pair of pants or a t-shirt over your bathing suit at the beach! It may not be glamorous, but neither is skin cancer.
-Em
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