When I lived in England, I may have been a bit prone to complaining about the weather. I mean, I’m from Colorado, where the sun does shine. While I appreciated the lush, green beauty of the English countryside, I didn’t always appreciate the rain. In answer to one of my complaints I remember the following retort: “Yes, but it is good for our skin. When you are old with wrinkles, we’ll be old with lovely skin.”
Climate and Skin Cancer
May in Colorado this year was cold and rainy. One day in mid-May, as I bundled up to go outside, I remembered this remark and began to think about the link between climate and skin cancer. Intuitively, it makes sense to me that people living in less sunny, colder, more northern climates will have better skin over the long-term. Right? Wrong. Here’s why.
According to a 2006 World Health Organization report (Forbes.com 07.28.2008), the top five hot spots for skin cancer are:
1. North America and Cuba
2. North Eastern Europe (including Russia)
3. Europe
4. Australasia, Asia-Pacific and East Asia
5. South Eastern Europe and Central Asia
We’re number one! We’re number one. We’re number one? Yes, and that is not a good thing.
Cultural Attitudes
Actually New Zealand and Australia are number one, but because they are grouped with Japan, they are number five on the WHO list. We North Americans have a lot in common with our southern hemisphere brethren, however, including the cultural desire to get a tan. The Japanese tend to associate being tan with being poor, therefore they wear their sunscreen.
In addition, many Aussies and Kiwis, much like many of us Yankees, have ancestors who migrated from cloudy, rainy Northern Europe. According to the WHO report, “fair-skinned populations that migrated to areas with high ambient levels of solar ultraviolet radiation” get more skin cancer. Our skin simply isn’t equipped to withstand excessive UV bombardment unprotected.
One Burn a Year Can Kill You
So what about all the Europeans on the skin cancer list? If they are at home in their natural protective climate, why are they getting skin cancer? Well it turns out that Europeans like to be tan too and when they leave their northern countries for a holiday on the Mediterranean or the South Seas, they leave their common sense behind and bask unprotected in the sun. They tend to figure that one sunburn a year won’t kill them. Wrong.
According to the WHO, medical studies have found that while the incidence of melanoma increases as one lives closer to the equator, mortality from melanoma is related to “intermittent, intense sun exposure (especially for those who are fair).” Death from melanoma is between 4 to 6 times greater in Nordic countries than in Mediterranean countries.
Old, with lovely skin? Yes, but only if you cover up and protect your skin with sunscreen when you’re outside in the bright light of the day. You don’t have to live in a rainy climate to have great skin. You just have to put your Skin First.
Giveaway Information….
This month’s giveaway will help you keep your great skin! Courtesy of Eucerin, I am giving away full-size bottles of Eucerin Everyday Protection SPF 30 Face Lotion and SPF 15 Body Lotion. I especially love the SPF 30 Face Lotion. Dermatologists say that the moment we step outside we are bombarded with UV rays. Wearing a daily SPF moisturizer of at least SPF 30 makes summer living even more carefree. Make it part of your routine.
Eucerin would like to hear how you plan to protect your skin this summer. Leave a comment here and then copy it onto their Facebook page. For an additional entry, take the Skin First Pledge if you haven’t already. If you already have, just mention this in your comment.
One winner will be chosen by random drawing on June 15th. Good luck!
I am very happy to be working with Eucerin as part of their Skin First Blogger Network. As part of this effort, Eucerin is providing me with skin care information, as well as skin care and wellness products. They are also providing this giveaway to my readers. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and reflect exactly what I would tell my friends and family.
Congratulations to Jan, the winner of this month’s giveaway drawing.
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Sissi says
i plan on continueing to protect my skin with Eucerin EVERYDAY PROTECTION BODY LOTION…. i like the way my skin has felt and looked since i started using it,several weeks ago…. Thanx Eucerin…
Mary says
I have fair skin as do all 3 of my girls. We wear sunscreen as a normal part of daily life. It is so important to take care of your skin, plus sunburns hurt! I remember my grandmother pointing out an older lady by the pool and telling me that by tanning she would make her skin look like leather and feel tough when she was older. I have always remembered that. Sometimes I feel like a broken record, “sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!” but hopefully it will stick with my girls.
Amy Cue says
Living in Colorado I and now in Missouir it is easy to feel the difference in how intense te sun feels on my skin. I used to think that Tan was healthy and beautiful, but when precancerous skin cells have been found on a number of people in my family I rethought about what I was doing to my skin. Now (even while swimming outside) I’m covered up. I use 50SPF on my face and the rest of my body and have made a facial sunscreen part of my daily makeup. My 2 year old is getting the same treatment. He has a tee shirt on when swimming in out wadding pool! I wear long sleeves and long pants (of the loose and lightweight variety) and spray over them with waterproof sunscreen when outside for long periods of time. Just because you aree covered doesn’t mean that you are safe! You can tan and burn through your clothing! I’ve learned that it is better safe than sorry when it comes to my skin! And when I’m old (i’m 28 now) my skin will thank me!
Colleen Kingston says
Staying out of the sun as much as possible & using sunscreen.
Rena Heffernan says
I plan on using Eucerin spf 15 body lotion and spf 3o face lotion every day I am out in the sun. I will wear a baseball hat to protect my eyes and thin, long sleeved cotton shirts and pants when I am exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
Susan W says
I have taken the Eucerin Skin First Pledge and take it seriously. Having relatives with skin cancer and dying from melanoma is no joke. I am trying to apply skin protection every day as even house to car and back can add up over the years! Plus I have an extra worry since I burned numerous times as a youngster…don’t want to add anything to that!!
Jan Scothern says
I am going to keep doing what I always do use my eucerin orignal cream every day on my whole body it’s great. It’s the only kind of lotion I can uses everything else makes me Itch.