The Effects of Sun on Skin such as Cancer, etc.
Uploaded by surfchick on Feb 20, 2005
Sun Effects The Skin
Since 1980s, that we have started hearing how bad the sunlight can be for the skin and it is surprising to see millions of people still lying on the beach every summer, or working out in the sun from days to days.
In United States, more than 600,000 cases of skin cancer were been reported in 1999, most of them caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Can you believe that? Around 30,000 of these cases will be the most dangerous kind of cancer, called melanoma, a kind of skin cancer which is directly related to exposure to the sun, and approximately 6,500 people will die from it. These kinds of statistics should really make us a big impact of the dangers of the sunlight. Also, about one out of every six people will develop some form of skin cancer and more than 90 percent of those cases will be directly related to exposure to the sun.
Part 2
Who is most likely to suffer from the most serious form of skin cancer? There are three major factors that raise a person's risk of getting melanoma.
Firstly, there is a hereditary factor. Hereditary factors are factors we are born with- our general genetic makeup, such as our skin and hair color. In general, light-skinned, light-eyed people of northern European background are most likely to suffer from skin cancer. These people often have red or blond hair. In contrast, dark-haired Caucasians, Asians, and Hispanics suffer less from this disease, and dark-skinned people are 50 times less likely than light-skinned people to get skin cancer.
Secondly, it is the environmental factor. Where we live seems to influence our chances of contracting the disease. Geography has the direct relationship with skin cancer. The further away, north or south, of the equator you are, the less likely you are to get skin cancer because the sunlight are not directly overhead, but instead hit the Earth at a softer angle. For example, someone who lives in southern Florida, where is fairly near the equator, is more likely to contract this disease than someone who lives in Alaska, where the sunlight are never directly overhead. This means that the rays take longer to reach the Earth, so the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere is able to stop more of the sun's dangerous ultraviolet light. One interesting topic I read recently that a...