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<text id=93TT1783>
<title>
May 24, 1993: Does Sunscreen Save Your Skin?
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
May 24, 1993 Kids, Sex & Values
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
HEALTH, Page 69
Do Sunscreens Save Your Skin?
</hdr>
<body>
<p>Researchers warn that using lotions alone may give sun worshippers
a false sense of security
</p>
<p>By CHRISTINE GORMAN--With reporting by David Bjerklie/New York
and Dan Cray/Los Angeles
</p>
<p> Cedric and Frank Garland sure know how to put a cloud over
a sunny day. Since 1990 the two brothers and their research
associate Edward Gorham, all San Diego-based epidemiologists,
have spread a highly unsettling message: liberal use of sunscreens
may actually promote a deadly form of skin cancer called melanoma
rather than protect people from it.
</p>
<p> The Garlands admit that sun blocks filter out the most damaging
solar rays and prevent sunburn. But that allows fair-skinned
people to stay on the beach or golf course longer than would
otherwise be tolerable. Lulled into a false sense of security,
these sun worshippers suffer the cumulative effect of overexposure
to the type of radiation that penetrates their sunscreen and,
the Garlands say, can lead to malignancy. "It's time to step
back and to consider whether what we have been doing, specifically
the strong use of sunscreens, is working," says Cedric, a professor
at the University of California at San Diego.
</p>
<p> Mother Jones magazine featured the Garlands' hypothesis on the
cover of its current issue. The American Academy of Dermatology,
which has denounced the San Diego team's work in the past, again
blasted their conclusions as unfounded, saying that they could
undermine efforts to educate the sunbathing public about skin
cancer. The Food and Drug Administration has not yet weighed
in on the controversy. Last week, however, the agency asked
sunscreen manufacturers to put warnings on their lotions about
the harmful effects of overexposure to the sun. And so, as the
countdown proceeds to the annual Memorial Day migration out
of doors, the untanned masses must rely, once again, on their
own best judgment. A close look at the evidence suggests that
sunscreens are neither the absolute villain the Garlands make
them out to be nor the perfect safeguard that beachgoers want.
</p>
<p> No one doubts that the sun's toll is rising. One in 6 Americans
will suffer from skin cancer, and the incidence is increasing
nearly 4% annually. Of the 700,000 new cases that will be diagnosed
in the U.S. this year, 80% will involve cells found in the lower
layers of the epidermis. These so-called basal-cell cancers
develop slowly, spread rarely and are nearly 100% curable. An
additional 130,000 skin cancers affect the pancake-shaped cells
that form the skin's upper layers. Although highly treatable,
these squamous-cell carcinomas grow faster than basal-cell tumors
and annually kill 2,300 Americans. Malignant melanoma, which
ravages the skin's pigment-producing cells, is the most unforgiving:
it will strike twice as many Americans in 1993 as in 1980. Nearly
7,000 will die this year.
</p>
<p> All the evidence gathered from animal experiments and epidemiological
surveys points to the high-energy, shorter-wave ultraviolet-B
portion of the sun's radiation as the main culprit in causing
basal- and squamous-cell cancer. (Sunburns are also caused by
UV-B radiation, wrinkles by the weaker UV-A part of the spectrum.)
Since no animals other than humans and opossums suffer from
malignant melanoma, researchers still do not know exactly what
causes that more deadly disease. Most dermatologists have long
assumed that sunburn-causing UV-B must be a greater threat than
UV-A. As a result, sunscreen manufacturers originally concentrated
on blocking UV-B. The most powerful formulas, developed in the
past decade, have provided some protection from UV-A.
</p>
<p> What if, as the Garlands contend, UV-A causes melanoma? Many
of today's sunscreens block only "about half of the UV-A," says
Cedric Garland. "The other half is a full dose of ultraviolet."
The Garlands point to one study that suggests that animals exposed
to both UV-A and UV-B develop more cancers than those receiving
UV-B alone. "Sunburn has been with people ever since there have
been people outdoors," Cedric says. "But it can't account for
the melanoma epidemic."
</p>
<p> Nonsense, the Garlands' critics respond. "We know that the more
sunburns you have, the greater your risk of melanoma," says
Dr. Darrell Rigel, a dermatologist at New York University. "And
we do know that sunscreens stop you from getting sunburn." Particularly
bad burns suffered in childhood or adolescence appear to increase
the risk of melanoma, and a genetic predisposition to skin cancer
also plays a role.
</p>
<p> The one thing everyone agrees on is that sunscreens are not
foolproof. Although manufacturers are now introducing formulas
that block out almost all UV-A and UV-B radiation, the best
protection against skin cancer is still to avoid the sun, cover
up whenever possible, slather on plenty of high-test sunscreen
for those body parts that remain exposed--and try to enjoy
the summer anyway.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>