Is it true that three bad sunburns guarantees you’ll get skin cancer?
Not exactly, but your risk for skin cancer, including melanoma, dramatically increases if you have had five or more severe sunburns that blister. “The more sun exposure you get, the more DNA damage to your skin, which can lead to cancerous changes,” explains Kevin Pinski, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Medical School. It’s not only burning that puts you at risk. Cumulative exposure ( repeated sunbathing without burning) is linked to basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. You can’t reverse all your past exposure, but you can prevent future damage: Wear protective clothing (like long sleeves) and get your tan from a tube, not a tanning bed! Remember: The only safe tan is a fake tan. Q: Cancer rates seem to be skyrocketing—what’s going on? A: Despite scary headlines, rates of many cancers are going down in this country, Michael Thun, M.D., an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, assured us. Breast cancer incidence rates have drop
