|
The shifting of population regionally, and the aging of the population, are both good points to consider for proper controls. (In Australia, a fair-skinned population in high-UV latitudes suffers melanoma rates 50% or higher than the US. Accordingly, the promotion of sun-avoidance & sunscreen is even more intense than the US. Their age-adjusted malanoma rate reporting shows the same increase, from the 1980s through 2016: https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-ty...). But as a longtime observer of trends, I'm pretty confident: people of all ages are conspicuously, consciously avoiding the sun more than in the 60s-80s. Indoor time has risen. Our palest most-sun-sensitive subgroups haven't increased as a proportion of the population - they've shrunk, compared to darker-skinned populations with lower base rates of melanoma. If contra my impressions, sun exposure time has gone up, that could be due to overconfidence in sunscreens, one of the effects I'm concerned about. If sunscreens provided the protection claimed, & this drumbeat of "slather it on always!" was an effective message, shouldn't there have been some dent in melanoma rates over the decades? Lung cancer deaths have gone down with smoking warnings & reduced sales. Motor vehicle deaths per mile traveled have gone down with new rules & education. Melanoma rates seem to go up no matter how much more sunscreen is touted, is sold/used, or is strengthened in SPF or formats/staying-power. |