Wear your sunscreen, seek the shade, wear protective clothing and never, ever go to a tanning salon. Despite decades of repetition, many of us fail to follow that skin-saving advice — and a new study shows that’s true even for people who have had the most serious form of skin cancer.
More than a quarter of people who have had melanoma say they never use sunscreen, according to the study presented at a medical meeting Monday. Even greater numbers eschew hats and long sleeves, and 2% admit they have used a tanning bed in the last year, say researchers from Yale University, who presented the data at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C.
Cancer survivors are a bit more careful than the rest of us: 32% always wear sunscreen, while just 17% of other adults do. Overall, they also are more likely to wear hats and long sleeves and stay in the shade. But when compared with others with the same age, race and insurance coverage, the differences are only significant when it comes to sunscreen use, says researcher Anees Chagpar. In other words, a 40-year-old white person with insurance coverage who has been through cancer treatment is just as likely to use a tanning bed or go
Read the rest of this article on USA Today: Many Skin Cancer Survivors Ignore Sun Safety Advice
