Sun and Cancer .. Misconceptions

The French Anti-Cancer Association has warned of the risks of melanoma, as well as the French's misinformation about the sun, where half of the population believes that childhood sunburn will not negatively affect health during adulthood.

This summer, the Anti-Cancer Association is leading an awareness campaign about the dangers of sun exposure, with the slogan "Don't let skin cancer put an end to your story. Check yourself," according to a report by Pierre Bianvolt published in the French newspaper La Croix.

"The incidence of melanoma has tripled between 1980 and 2005," the association said, adding that its average development has been more than 3.4% annually in humans over the past eight years. In 2017, 15,404 new cases of skin cancer were recorded in France, resulting in 1,783 deaths.

Awareness campaigns
These statistics reveal that the French are not yet fully aware of the risks. "It has been more than 20 years since the awareness campaigns intensified, but the messages are not fully received," said Dr. Luc Solimovic, president of the National Syndicate of Dermatologists.

According to the 2015 measure of the National Agency of Public Health in France, 95% of French people know that exposure to sunlight causes cancer.

One-tenth of the French believe that applying a sunscreen once is enough to protect all day, and 20% of French still believe that sunburn prepares the skin by making it less damaged by sunlight.

Half of the respondents believe that childhood sunburn has no repercussions in adulthood, while in reality time does not erase everything.

In fact, severe childhood sunburn, accompanied by skin bubbles, increases the risk of adult melanoma, especially in people whose skin contains many moles, or whose family members have already had skin cancer.

Dr. Solimovich advises “to pay more attention to the sun when it has been exposed to radiation in your childhood.” Them no problem.

"At the time, information about melanoma was limited. More importantly, there was a very well-established idea left by the post-war period and lack of food that the sun was good for growth and for children who lacked vitamin D," he explained.

The Industrial Revolution
Many French people tend to tan, which, over time, has turned into a true “social indicator”. This is indicated by the National Agency of Public Health in France based on the 2015 scale.

The study showed that "until the end of the 19th century, white skin was favored and represented the lifestyle of the most privileged groups. Tanning was associated with the external work of the toiling class or ethnic origin, as an indication of belonging to disadvantaged social classes."

This changed with the Industrial Revolution, as the laboring class found itself in factories rather than fields. Concurrently, the resorts began to develop during the reign of the Second French Empire. Gradually, pale or pale skin is no longer a sign of wealth, but an indicator of poverty and poor health. In 1936, this development was reinforced with the advent of paid holidays.

"With the development of leisure activities, outdoor sports, vacations or excursions, tanning is becoming a standard for beauty, a symbol of success and a life of entertainment, and a symbol of material prosperity," the AFP study notes.

To fasten the price
According to Dr. Solimovich, sun protection speeches today face the social imperative of not returning from vacation with white skin. They keep fast. "

Health rhetoric tends to harden its tone to dispel the notion that tanning is a sign of good health. Therefore, US health authorities have stated that "tanned skin is not healthy."

These steps are a new stage in health communication. Is this before passing to the stage of hanging a sign reading "Tanning Killer" at the entrance to the beach?