"Sunscreens have been heavily promoted as a means of protecting sunbathers but they may have the opposite effect, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It cites Antony Young of King's College, London, who said several large scale studies over the past few years had been "unable to tease out any clear relationship" between sunscreen use and melanoma incidence. But some studies showed sunscreens increased the incidence of melanoma."
WHat many people fail to realize is that a sunscreen is not a ticket to unlimited exposure to the sun... While it certainly does decrease the risk of skin cancer; many people treat sunscreen as a ticket to unlimited exposure to the sun; and sunscreen does not protect one's body from all of the UV type B rays (I believe that these are the waves that can cause sunburns and skin cancer). However, I would still recommend sunscreen to anyone who goes outside; they just should be a bit more serious about sunscreen use.
Ivan Seeking
Aug13-03, 11:00 PM
A comedian once commented: I buy SPF 1000; you squeeze the tube and a sweater comes out!