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We are in the middle of the high summer season, and we all know what that means: overflowing beaches, vacations in the town or by the sea, visits to the river, urban pools that hang the entire poster ... all with the intention of passing a few days off, take a bath to better cope with the high temperatures and sunbathe.
And it is that for many Spaniards returning from vacation without having caught some color is like not having been.
Despite the risks involved and the awareness campaigns, sunbathing becomes the national sport every summer.
A sport that if we do not practice with caution,
can lead to serious health problems in the short, medium and long term.
The key is in solar radiation
Solar radiation is composed of three types of ultraviolet radiation (UV) which, depending on their wavelength, are UV-A, UV-B and UV-C;
but also by infrared rays
Type C UV radiation is undoubtedly the most harmful to humans, but fortunately it does not reach the earth's surface.
Type B radiation
is the culprit that our skin turns red when exposed to the sun and sunburn, it
is what burns us.
Type A
is the majority, representing 95% of UV radiation that hits the skin.
It is not as harmful as C or B, but it can also cause skin changes such as
premature aging, wrinkles or blemishes.
Lastly, infrared rays are a type of radiation that produces heat but does not tan.
Fortunately, an excess of these rays on the skin will not have serious consequences for us.
Cataracts and other vision disorders
Overexposure to the sun without adequate visual protection,
that is, without approved lenses, is causing us to see younger people with
eye problems
in consultations every day
.
Pathologies in the lens such as the well-known cataracts, which affect the retina such as retinal or corneal degeneration such as keratoconjunctivitis.
A revealing fact is that cases of people in their 40s and 50s with cataracts are being seen, when years ago it was an almost exclusive pathology of senile age.
The best way to prevent these disorders is the
use of approved sunglasses, also in children.
Premature aging of the skin
In large part, the person responsible for this is type A ultraviolet radiation. An excess of exposure to these rays
affects the collagen and elastin fibers of the skin, causing it to become weak, dry and sagging.
The visible consequences will be the appearance of dark spots of different sizes on the skin, mainly on the skin of the face and arms, as well as small wrinkles prematurely.
First or second degree burns
A sunburn today may not have much importance, beyond the pain and inflammation in the area of the burn and that we have to apply regenerating cream several times a day.
In the worst case, a small blister may appear in the area or we may have to take some pain reliever.
Today may not go beyond that discomfort for a couple of days, but as they say,
the skin has a memory and these episodes accumulate and are tickets for the future draw for skin cancer.
That is why it is so important to protect ourselves from solar radiation from childhood.
Skin cancer
This is surely the greatest danger of going out in the sun.
Both UV-A and UV-B rays cause alterations in the DNA structure that can cause different types of skin cancer such
as basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, although type B a greater risk factor in the appearance of this disease.
Of all the types of skin cancer,
melanoma is the most dangerous of them
and its most important risk factor for its appearance is, precisely, excessive exposure to solar radiation.
Of this most dangerous type, every year 5,000 new cases are diagnosed in Spain, most of them in people between 40 and 70 years of age.
These cases are usually associated with
continuous episodes of sunburn that have accumulated throughout life.
According to the Catalan Institute of Oncology,
more than 80% of melanoma cases could be prevented ...
up to four thousand diagnoses per year in our country that would not occur if we adequately protect ourselves from the sun and avoid excessive exposure.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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