July: UV Safety Month

Warm summer days and outdoor activities expose you to the sun's rays, also called ultraviolet or UV rays. A sunburn or tan results when UV rays damage your unprotected skin and may lead to wrinkles, skin spots, or skin cancer. The same UV rays that damage your skin can also harm your eyes.

The wrinkles and other skin changes we think are caused by aging usually occur from getting too much sun. Recent estimates report that 40 to 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have skin cancer at least once. Even dark-skinned people can develop skin cancer. Nothing can completely undo sun damage, but the skin sometimes can repair itself. Taking a few simple sun-safe steps can help delay skin changes and prevent skin cancer. It is never too late to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun.

* To learn more about how you can protect your eyes from harmful UV rays, visit the American Academy of Ophthalmology Web site at www.aao.org.
* For information on preventing skin cancer, visit the American Academy of Dermatology’s SkinCancerNet Web site at www.skincarephysicians.com/SkinCancerNet/index.html.

What's Your Sun-Safety IQ? Take the American Cancer Society's quiz to find out: www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_7_1x_
Take_the_Sun_Safety_Quiz.asp

sun imageAre Some People More Sensitive to the Sun?

People with the following risk factors are more likely than others to develop skin cancer.

* Lighter natural skin color
* Family history of skin cancer
* Personal history of skin cancer
* Outdoor workers
* A history of blistering sunburns early in life (adult sunburns count also)
* Skin that burns, freckles, reddens easily, or becomes painful in the sun
* Blue or green eyes
* Blond or red hair
* Certain types and a large number of moles
* Rare disorders associated with impaired immunity or increased sensitivity to the sun

To learn more about who may be at risk to develop skin cancer, visit: www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/ ped_7_1x_Are_Some_People_More_ Susceptible_to_Sun_Damage.asp