14 DAY TRIAL // Health experts never cease to warn sun-lovers of the many dangers inherent in too much exposure, even when protected by sun lotions and sunscreens. Tanning, both on the beach and with tanning beds, is the number one cause for developing skin cancer, we have been told so far. Not so much, says a new study, coming to show that, while over-exposure is recommended against, it’s not the sun that gets us skin cancer but our very genes, as the Times Online can also confirm.
Because skin cancer is not related to sun exposure to the extent it was previously believed, the repeated warnings issued by doctors are redundant. Not only do they present a distorted reality, but they also effectively contribute to panicking people and scaring them uselessly, the new research says. In order to determine one person’s odds of developing the disease, they must do a thorough checkup and see how many moles they have and, this way, know for certainty whether they’re allowed to stay out in the sun or not, researchers state.
Conducted by an international team of researchers, hailing from Queensland, Australia, Montreal, Canada and Philadelphia, America, the research identified two genes responsible – to a yet to be determined extent – to the appearance of skin cancer. “The number of moles you have is one of the strongest risk factors for melanoma – stronger than sunshine. This paper shows that we found two important genes that control the number of moles you have. Those genes also give you an extra risk of melanoma.” Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, where the research took place, explains.
Based on the findings of the new study, it’s not just sun exposure that should be getting a bad rap in the media, since it is nothing but a part of a larger puzzle. Health warnings, researchers believe, would perhaps be more effective if they focused more on people with a large number of moles on their body (over 100, for instance), and on teaching them how to inspect them to check for the first signs of skin cancer.
Dr. Veronique Bataille, researcher at King’s College London, certainly seems to believe so. “As a dermatologist working in the melanoma field for nearly 20 years, I feel quite strongly that there is always an overemphasis on sunshine. You often read that nearly all melanomas are caused by sunshine – which is not supported by the evidence. The more research we do, the more we realize that sunshine is a small part of the puzzle. In any population you study across the world, if you are ‘moley’ it is a very steady risk factor for melanoma, and it doesn’t make any difference whether you live in Glasgow or Sydney or LA.” Bataille is quoted as saying.