Prevention

Most people in United Kingdom know that exposure to Ultra Voilet Light [UV] from the sun is damaging to the skin. It is usually a surprise just how common skin cancer is however, with over 80,000 cases a year in UK.

What is UV?
UV is a form of radiation emitted from the sun, and it is invisible to the naked eye. It is usually divided into 3 groups, A, B & C.

UVA
is linked to cell ageing and long term skin damage and is implicated in some skin cancers, but thought not to be as harmful as

UVB
this causes sunburn and direct damage to cells DNA, and is thought to cause most types of skin cancer.

UVC
does not penetrate our atmosphere much and is low risk.

Whilst short term exposure to UV causes sunburn and tanning, long term leads to loss of skin elasticity, discolouration and pre cancerous condition such as solar keratosis as well as skin cancer.

The UV index
This measures the amount of UV reaching the earth around midday, and is a relative scale from where 1 is low and 10 is extreme. It gives a more objective measure than 'time to burn'.

Who is at risk?
In United KIngdom, the short answer is everyone, and anyone outdoors at anytime in the day should take precautions.
It is a myth that you cannot burn on a cloudy day, water vapour provides no protection from UV. As sunburn is thought to cause skin cancer, anything that prevents sunburn is effective.

Those with lighter skin are more likely to burn, but those with the following should be especially careful in the sun.

Appearance

Family History

Occupation

Medical History