I guess you earn under 50k

(I dont earn under 50k--not really sure what that has to do with anything--did I miss that in the article?)

ANYWAY, I am in the medical research field.....I know this sounds crazy and probably is but I don't use it either ( I know: BAD BAD RESEARCHER) ! My 99 year old grandfather, 94 year old grandmother and 88 year old maternal grandmother never used it and they are fine....my maternal grandmother was from a farming family. It doesn't make medical sense to me ....not allowing the melanin to slowly build up in your skin seems a$$ backward. The melinin acts as an umbrella to your DNA. We have evolved throughout millions of years with the sun and environment. HOwever, don't take my advice I am strange. I think drinking milk, which is designed for baby cows, is weird--and all my grandparents drunk/drink milk and like I said they are fine. Use sunscreen you will be fine.... I am still not going to however.

"...not allowing the melanin to slowly build up in your skin seems a$$ backward."

True, many people do not realize that the reason your skin gets darker with sun exposure is your bodies natural defense against increased UV exposure. Your melanin levels increase allowing more of the UV light to be safely absorbed. Being tan is not bad; BEING BURNT IS BAD! It is when your body takes in too much UV in too little time that your cells die and mutate too fast to be corrected by the wonders of dna replication.

Building up a good base tan over a long period of time, with no burning, is the best natural way to assure your body can protect itself from uv light damage. Check out information on extremophile bacteria, many of them are able to fix mutated dna hundreds of times faster than our cells can; it is this that allows organisms to survive uv damage. Otherwise every time you got hit with uv light you would get cancer; and this is clearly not what happens.

Kallie,

Presumably, since you're in the "medical research field", you should also know that low-number events should not be used for blanket conclusions. I know people who smoked their entire lives and lived to be 90, but does that mean that cigarettes are safe and don't cause cancer? Of course not. You cannot use a very limited number of datapoints to draw broad conclusions such as those you made. Just like how smoking doesn't guarantee you'll get cancer, not using sunscreen and getting sunburns does not guarantee that you'll get melanoma. However, it does significantly heighten the probability, and well-performed, peer-reviewed research has consistently shown that the use of sunscreens helps many, MANY more people than it harms.

Don Jr -- the "natural sun-blocking" defense when your skin tans only has an equivalent SPF of about 4. In other words, when people go to get a "starter tan" before vacationing in the tropics, their tan is only giving them approx a 4 SPF protection. Sure, it's better than nothing, and it is a natural defense, but it certainly is not sufficient for most people.

*inserts thumbs in suspenders and sits back in rocking chair*

Said it before, I'll say it again. Too much sunshine makes people stupid.

Any questions on this theory should be directed to Southern California, Texas, Florida, Greece, etc.

When I am out working in the yard, I don't use sunscreen, but when I go to the pool or beach, I use it. I encourage my children to use it as well. I enjoy having a nice tan, but I try never to burn.

The problem is we are bombarded with so much junk science about sun, diets, cell phone usage, coffee, soda, bottled water, etc.etc. that we just tune it out. Many so called scientists conduct research on behalf of a interest group or public relations firm. People don't know who to believe or what to believe, so it all gets discarded.

all i can say (rch) is you probably lay awake nights and fantasize making what i pay in taxes.

I have very fair skin. My freckles got tan but everything else just got red and burned. When I was a kid, do you think it made a dent in my dumb teenaged head? When you're young, you think you're invincible and above everything.

Now I am 58 years old and am plagued by skin cancers that keep cropping up. Removal of these cancers can be very painful, and can result in scars, like the one on the end of my nose, my arm, my forehead, my legs, and other parts of my body. Beware that you could be subjecting yourself to all this misery that I deal with.

Granted, if you're born with enough Melanin in your skin to produce a tan, maybe you can do without the sun screen. However, if you're very fair complected, it's another matter.

The last time I went to my Dermatologist's office for yet another surgery, the waiting room looked like a convention of the Arian Nation - all very pale, pale people. All with the same thing I had.

Before all of you idiots announce that there is no need for sun block, consider people like me. I'm not even sure these products even existed when I was a kid, but before I said NO to sun block, I'd check it out with a doctor or a dermatologist who would have a legitimate opinion.

J Guthrie

YIKES! I say if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin.

I assume you're including soap, deodorant, shampoo and other personal hygeine products. And calamine lotion, because poison ivy is natural and calamine has chemicals. Then there are band-aids... they're no good either, nor the antibiotic ointment you use them with. And the list goes on, with hundreds of examples.

With all due respect, you must smell pretty ripe by now, and you're probably covered in sores. No offense intended.

But, after all, this is the 21st century and most people in the civilized world benefit from the things you apparently abhor.

You hang around out in the sun too long without protection you won't be saying Be Well Everyone. Melanoma is a KILLER. If you don't catch it early you have a 3 or 4% chance of living 5 years, most Stage IV Malignant Melanomas DIE. It isn't a joking matter my friend. Even in Stage III you go through numerous surgeries and then maybe Interferon Alfa (2b), the most god Awful stuff in the world for 12 or 13 months. Wear wide brimmed hats, cover up, stay out of the sun during peak hours........Oh! yeah, I didn't do that either, almost killed me too. That was 5 years ago, all I'll say is you are the decider in your life, but just know the consequences can be devestating, Bob MARLEY died of Malignant Melanoma that metasticized to his brain. And parents, remember, you sometimes don't get Melanoma until you're 50 or 60, but the damage is usually done when you're little and get burned a few times on your tender skin, watch out for the kids, when you grow up it's your OWN hind end, but don't damage the kids skin. Peace.

God, there are actually many natural solutions to the products you listed, and they are not all necessary. People got along for millions of years before Proctor & Gamble et al came along. Many of us ARE concerned about being poisoned by the many chemicals that we are constantly surrounded by. What do you think has contributed to the huge increases in cancers and many other chronic diseases, as well as genetic abnormalities and reproductive problems that have cropped up during this and last century? Read the Hundred Year Lie if you want to know more.

I wear it when I'm going to be sitting out in the sun with no shad in site because Melanoma is dangerous. My grandpa got it and had to amputate his ear.

Shannon - I agree with you. I'm a Vietnam Veteran who has had Cancer twice now from Agent Orange. Believe ME, I agree with you on that toxic chemical stuff 100%. Just gotta keep on keepin' on.

"People got along for millions of years before Proctor & Gamble et al came along"

They "got along" before Louis Pasteur, I. P. SemmelweisJonas, Jonas Salk, Hans Andersag, Alex Fleming, Lloyd H. Conover, Peter Safar (CPR), etc....but not as well as when we leverage what those inventors, scholars, and humanitarians discovered and or taught us (those of is who listened and learned).

The life expectancy in the 1700s was about 47 years old - now we live quite a bit longer than that and do so playing the odds as the research and stats tells us to. Or perhaps you're simply demonstrating Darwinism by going your own path of refusal and bliss. Good luck.

J Guthrie,

You're a moron.

I agree with a few things you have to say. We have been surviving for thousands of years and the sun is a killer? I don't think so! These are just useless things in our life that's harming us and making the corporates billions.

The only thing that prevents Skin Cancer is staying out of the sun.

Actually, nothing can really PREVENT skin cancer. You don't even need to go in the sun to get it.

It's a cancer, just like all other cancers. The cells are present in your body when you're born, if something triggers them to begin reproducing, that's cancer. And sometimes it doesn't even require anything to trigger them, they just do it on their own.

This is why there are infants with cancer.

Nothing can prevent cancer...nothing. Maybe one day science will find a way to, but I doubt it will be in our lifetimes.

Do they get much sun in Portland Maine?

Portland OR here, and we don't get a whole lot of sun, except in July and August. I'm a ginger- burn at the drop of a neckline, and damn straight I wear sunscreen! Skin cancers run in my family, and that's not my style of dying, thankyouverymuch.

Absolutely! When I was in high school, I knew several girls who frequented tanning beds and spent all summer in the sun. When I pointed out that the sun is the number one cause of aging, they actually said: "I don't care. When I'm THAT old, I won't care how I look. I want to look good now." Oh, how shortsighted and stupid; vanity that arrogant won't shrivel up and die at 30, 40, 50 or any age!

Leathery, dried up, tough skin is NOT sexy. I pride myself in my ultra silky skin and I admit, I wear sunscreen to KEEP it that way. I also earn less than 50K and the assumption that people in that income bracket are all too stupid to understand these issues and be proactive is ludicrous.

About the "chemical" concerns. Most people are exposed to far more toxins, chemicals and radiation in their homes and workplaces than the tiny amounts in a thimble full of sunscreen! Not a single person touting "natural" things is actually willing to put their money where their mouth is and eschew ALL chemicals and man made materials. Only when it is convenient for them to do so or does not cost them anything. Like someone who avoided sunscreen because of the "chemicals" then was pumped full of them later in the form of chemotherapy due to the cancer. Ironic, right? Hey; chemo ain't natural, folks!!

Actually, I think the point is that people earning less than 50K are less likely to have the disposable income to buy things like sunscreen on a regular basis, not that they are stupid. I earn considerably less than 50K, but I consider sunscreen an essential like toothpaste or deodorant, and use it every day. I am a pale-skinned blonde living in TX for about 23 years, and I've been using sunscreen that long on my face, neck, ears, and chest. I just wish it had occurred to me back then to use it on my hands and forearms, too, because I do have age spots now in those places. I did wise up and started using the sunscreen there several years ago.

Like any vampire, they just can't take the sun. Knock out a window at any brokerage house. They'd all burn down to ash.

Too funny HazCats

Yeah, that was funny - i truly laughed out loud. My kid is saying, What? what?

Actually, sun exposure is cumulative. Do you have windows in your home, work place, and car? You're getting exposed to sunlight through those windows. I wear sunscreen every day wether I'm going outside for five minutes or five hours. I had skin cancer, it's not pleasant. I do not want to go through that ever again.

Please list your peer-reviewed, scientific sources for this assertion. There are a myriad of well-performed studies that consistently show that sunscreen saves more people than it harms. Yes, it's probably not 100% harmless, but it can help prevent many, many cases of skin cancer every year. Regardless, to make such a bold statement as you made, I want to see the research-grade studies that indicate that "that stuff will give you cancer".

Try this one http://www.fastcompany.com/?q=1651665/environmental-working-group-your-sunscreen-may-cause-cancer

I'm not sure if it will allow the link since I'm not "vetted" on the vine. Google "sunscreen causes cancer." In a nutshell, there is cause to believe the vit A in many sunscreens can speed up the cancer (from FDA). I think it's a mistake to say it "causes" cancer - but recent findings indicate it could worsen an exsisting problem.

"Ask any dermatologist and they will tell you..."

Ask any doctor and they will tell you everyone ever should get a flue shot every single year of their lives if it is available.

I think much of the public health industry has gotten into this trend of over-hyping everything bad that can ever possibly happen to you. It's not that I don't think treatments and prevention should never be sought out, but I think most people could do without and take a little restraint and common sense when it comes to their health care. Our bodies have their own amazing healing properties and ways to take care of ourselves, but so many doctors and people will go straight to meds before ever even giving our bodies the chance.

Sorry my medical plan doesn't allow for Dermatology, When the the lesion start bleeding constantly they just burn the cancer out and give three band-aids till the burn heals.

I wonder in Obama-Care will be any better.

I agree, the fact that they only have 1004 participants that we are lead to believe are spaced around the entire country does not seem statistically significant. And yet they seem to conclude a significant geographic distribution of "serious sunscreen appliers" around the country with that small sample size. The findings seem greatly over exaggerated to me.

Of course who knows, maybe in the paper stating their findings they go through all this, but with the way these things are written about in the mass media we never hear the details. It would be nice if the full writeup could be included in the article somehow, or maybe a link to it.

Just take it from a survivor, considering the pros and the cons, a little protection is a whole damn lot better than cutting out tissue and lymph nodes and then taking a God awful chemotherapy that causes some people to commit suicide. Take care of the kids, PLEASE. And Peace to all.

Try Aveeno. I think mine's 30 SPF and unscented. It's a little pricey but it doesn't have the heavy, greasy sunscreen feeling. I just use it on my face and then use the cheap stuff everywhere else.

I use Oil of Olay SPF 15, it's great and, truly, I've been using it for years and years and I have no wrinkles.

My dermatologist reccomends Neutrogena. There is one called dry touch and it's pretty light. I don't like anything heavy either and I use it every day. It comes in much higher SPF's.

It's not as bad as the poison in the chemotherapy you have to take for Malignant Melanoma Shannon. That stuff is horrendous, just about kills you, but not quite.

Shannon, do you regularly make stuff up based on a general "feeling" about what "sounds right"? You do, don't you?

Do please -- for the love of god -- point to a reputable study showing that sunscreen does more harm than good. Every single medical association in the country recommends sunscreen -- EVERY STINKING ONE OF THEM. Every doctor in the country, Shannon!

Jesus.

You and people like you are the reason this country is so far behind other industrialized nations.

Sunscreen causes cancer, too.

Shannon, No one is forcing you to use sunscreen. It's perfectly alright to go without, risking Melanoma. Once the Melanoma metastasizes to you brain, lungs, liver...it won't matter that your ignorance kept you from using sunscreen.

Do yourself a favor. Read and learn about the harmful effects of the sun and then decide what the lesser of the evils are...cancer or sunscreen.

For a wonderful product that feels just like a moisturizer our family uses Rocky Mountain Sunscreen Kids 50 SPF. The kids love it because it doesn't leave a white film on their skin and the adults love it because it leaves the skin soft and supple. This product allows the skin to breathe and sweat, doesn't come off in the water. At our high altitude it is imperative to use a dependable sunsreen.

My grandfather died of skin cancer. That's my mortality reason.

I am 3/4 white, 1/4 native american. When my skin gets any sort of tan whatsoever, it developes a very peculiar tone that I don't like at all. I've been wearing SPF 100 since marketing to avoid it at all costs. That's my vanity reason.

People who rage against an SPF (seriously, people?) need to shut the hell up and mind their own business. If you don't want it, don't use it. But dictating what other people 'do or don't need' is just assinine.

Icelandic women have the best skin in the world. They have angles skin.

GOOGLE Left Inguinal Node Dissection (that's what they do to remove malignant Lymph Nodes from Melanoma), and look at the pictures, after you gag remember to use your sunscreen.

Read post 15-4.

Nobody thinks about that. I know what you mean I'm on two that react badly to sun. I just stay in. HD TV brings the sun inside without having to leave the A/C.

50 years ago we had a lot more ozone than we currently have. If I found out I had a vitamin D deficiency I think I'd rather take a supplement than sit in the sun.

TheOldLady, stop spreading new-age rumors and cures.

And for the love of god, your advice about going into the sun for 30-45 minutes each day without sunscreen is BATSH*T CRAZY.

Seriously. Shut up.

Some of us really can't build up a "good protective tan." My skin goes straight from white to red so sunscreen is really the only option. Sure, I'd rather avoid the chemicals but I think it's a whole lot better than the alternative.

She's not crazy -- we do need Vit D and there is research out there that people might not be getting enough. I make sure to drink milk or take a supplement but then again I walk alot so would get it through that. But I always wear sunscreen.

"There is no harm going in the afternoon sun a few times each day, in 30-45 min increments without sunscreen."

I start buring in 10 mins ... how is THAT supposed to help?! I hate sunscreen, so I cover as much as I can with clothes and sunscreen the rest. My dad has had Melanoma twice, so myself and my kids need to be careful. And no tan is "good".

As for V D, drinking milk and eating food fortified with or naturally with V D works. I'm NOT going outside for 30 mins uncovered for any vitamin.

50 years ago?

My mom's family (the redheaded side) lived in southern California. When my mom was growing up, no, they didn't use sunscreen. There really wasn't any. She and her friends smeared baby oil (!) all over themselves when they went into the sun. Yeah, 40, 50 years ago they did some thing that we now know are stupid. And they had less cancer then- but they're paying for it now. Guess which side of my family had all of the skin cancers? Even now I worry- I had several bad burns in my teens and twenties and now I have several lesions that my doctor is concerned about. Sure wish I'd known then what I know now!

TheOldLady is absolutely correct. Not only are a significant percentage of Americans deficient in vitamin D, sunlight produces the best form which is D3. Vitamin D is essential to the immune system. The major problem is the one size fits all recommendations. Many Americans have significant equatorial heritage (African, South American, south Asian). These folks require more exposure to the sun to get adequate amounts of vitamin D. Yet many of these same folks are lactose intolerant as adults and so cannot readily get vitamin D through dairy sources. In contrast, people of north European descent not only burn easily, but also need very little sun exposure.

Personally, I wear a hat and shirt while working outside. I let my exposed legs, arms and face develop a "farmer's tan". If I go to the beach or pool, I definitely put sunscreen on my lily white back and shoulders. But then, no one in my family has ever died of skin cancer.

I think the higher SPF's are just a marketing ploy to feed into people's paranoia. SPF 100. Really??? Most information I've heard is that you don't need anything higher than SPF 15, which, some people can still tan through. I am one of them.

I agree. My oncologist and dermatologist only recommend an SPF30 for daily wear and and SPF 50 for any prolonged exposure to the sun. I am a Melanoma patient. I remember getting sunburns when I was 10-11 years old. 37 years later I was diagnosed with Melanoma.

My dad has had two cases of Melanoma. First on his back, most likely from not wearing sunscreen when younger while working outside without a shirt on (he did that all the time) and the second was on his lung. Doctors removed the pencil eraser-size spot and verified it was melanoma and not lung cancer.

After one gets melanoma, even if the cancer is cut out, it can still pop up anywhere in the boby. Granted, my dad's been on top of this for the last 6 years ... and still alive.

The other types of skin cancers aren't deadly unless they are not treated. That doesn't mean that the treatments are easy. I had skin cancer on my nose, a very common area. I had most of the side of my nose removed and now have a scar from my forehead to the corner of my mouth from the surgery to cover the large hole in my nose. These types of surgeries are performed while you are awake. Very painful and unpleasant, not to mention about a year of healing and more procedures to try and look normal again. I was lucky, I saw another patient who lost his whole nose, ghastly looking and not somthing that can be fixed, only use a fake one.