Half of Britons get sunburnt despite skin cancer risk

By Kasie Davies  on Thursday 2 September 2010

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A shocking new survey has revealed that nearly half of Britons got sunburnt this summer in order to get a tan.

Out of the 2,000 polled, a surprising 46% confessed to getting burnt in the sun, despite being aware of skin cancer risks. Furthermore, a third of those said they’d be happy to do it again in order to go brown.

The rates of malignant melanoma in Britain has risen sharply over the past 25 years – more than any other common cancer – and has reached a point where 10,300 new cases are diagnosed a year.

The poll, carried out by Superdrug and Cancer Research UK, found that the most common place to get burnt was the face, followed by the shoulders, arms and neck.

‘What’s particularly concerning is that people are setting out with the specific aim of getting sunburn because they see it as part of getting a tan,’ says Superdrug pharmacist Martin Crisp.

‘What they aren’t realising is that there is more going on in the skin than what you see on the surface and, while the sunburn and tan may fade, the damage does not.

‘Put simply, the more people spend in the sun, the more damage they are doing to their skin, and they should seriously ask themselves whether it’s a risk they’re prepared to take.’

With September predicted to be uncharacteristically warm for the UK, experts are warning Brits to keep their wits about them by applying suncream during long periods outside.

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Thursday 2 September 2010

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I was diagnosed with stage 3 malignant melanoma last year which had spread - its not just being told you have something like that its the knock on effect as well - 5 major ops in 6 months - most of last year in hospital, which as a single parent with 2 x girls wasn't easy to arrange. Plus I now have lymphodema and will have for ever. It's just not worth it.
Comment by caroline on September 08 08:10

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