I know skin cancer and sun is an issue close to cyclists hearts so I’ve been looking at the recent stats on the Cancer Research UK web site (STATS). There are some worrying trends which highlight changes in behaviors over the last 50-60 years.
People in their 60s and 70s are now over five times more likely to be diagnosed with malignant melanoma– the deadliest type of skin cancer – than their parents would have been 30 years ago.
In this age group it’s risen from 7 cases per 100,000 people in the mid 1970s to 36 cases per 100,000 today. The stark rise shows the impact that a shift in tanning behavior has had on a whole generation of men and women who would have been in their 20s and 30s during the dawn of cheap package holidays in the 1970s – when sunburn before suntan was a common ritual – and sunbeds arrived in the UK.
The worrying rise in incidence rates is expected to continue. By 2024 rates in people aged 60-79 are predicted to increase by a third from where they are today. For men and women of all ages melanoma incidence rates have quadrupled since the 1970s. Already skin cancer is predicted to become the fourth most common cancer for men and for women in the UK by 2024. If melanoma death rates had stayed the same as they were in 1973, around 19,000 fewer people would have died from melanoma.
Melanoma is largely preventable. Burning is not only painful and unsightly; it’s a clear sign that UV rays from the sun have damaged the DNA in your skin cells. This significantly increases the chance of developing skin cancer and makes skin look older. People with fair skin, freckles and lots of moles should take extra care in the sun.
So everyone should avoid the temptation to redden or burn in order to get that trade mark ‘cyclists tan’ like the pros. Why do we year in year out see cyclists troop over to Spain and get burned withing hours of getting off the plane. Silly me I forgot or I thought it would be ok? Well it will unfortunately be 30 years before you find out if it’s ok so take care now and be healthy in your old age.
Check out CRUKs latest SunSmart Campaign.
