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Crazy But True: One In Four Melanoma Survivors Don’t Use Sunscreen
You’d think that skin cancer survivors would be hyper-vigilant about wearing sunscreen and staying out of the sun, but not always: More than 27 percent of people who’ve had melanomas removed say they don’t use sunscreen—and 2.1 percent have actually gone to a tanning salon recently, according to new findings presented earlier this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Researchers analyzed data from the Center for Disease Control’s 2010 National Health Interview Survey, an annual, nationally representative survey of people in the U.S. that asks questions on a wide range of health topics. What they were looking for in particular: participants’ self-reported history of melanoma, as well as how that corresponded to their sun protection and indoor tanning habits.
Of the adults in the survey, 171 had a prior history of melanoma and 26,949 didn’t. “Using this very robust data source, we were able to determine that melanoma survivors in general do a better job on staying out of the sun, using sunscreen, and so on—but we still could be doing much better,” says study author Anees B. Chagpar, MD, an associate professor in the department of surgery at Yale University School of Medicine. Of the non-melanoma survivors, 35.4 percent of people said that they never use sunscreen. When you look at the flip side of that—how many people say they always use sunscreen—melanoma survivors also do better than people who haven’t had any of the serious skin cancers removed (32 percent versus 17 percent). But here’s the scariest part: When you control for other demographic factors like race and age, people who’d had melanoma were no less likely to say they’d visited a tanning salon in the last year than people who hadn’t had the disease.
“Truthfully, that blew my mind,” says Chagpar. “All of this really does raise the question of: Are there some behaviors like tanning that just may be habits that are very difficult to break?”
Whether or not indoor tanning is addictive, it is certainly dangerous—particularly for melanoma survivors, who are nine times more likely to get a subsequent melanoma, says Chagpar. While this group needs to be particularly proactive, people who haven’t had skin cancer in the past certainly aren’t off the hook when it comes to staying safe.
“The fact that over a third of people in general never wear sunscreen is problematic,” says Chagpar. “This study really sends a message to both groups that we really could be doing a much better job in terms of protecting ourselves from the harmful rays of the sun and certainly the harmful rays of indoor tanning salons.”
In addition to never, ever indoor tanning, you should apply SPF—the higher, the better—whenever you’ll be outdoors for an extended period of time, says Chagpar. You’ll also need to reapply it every few hours, and it’s a good idea to wear hats, long sleeves, and a long skirt or pants (if you can bear it).
“These are common sense public health messages that wev’e been sending for a long time,” says Chagpar. “I think this is simply a wakeup call that we know these answers, we just could be doing a better job of actually following them.”
photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More From Women’s Health:
Tanning Beds: Skin Cancer Kills
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6 Crazy Ways Music Improves Your Life
’Tis the season of endless holiday music. (Go count how many times you hear “Jingle Bell Rock” on your morning commute.) But don’t shut off those festive tunes—belt ‘em out. Singing could be good for your health, according to a new study from Norway.
Researchers found that hospital employees who took part in a choir program reported both improved health and greater engagement at work. Why? Social bonds formed during cultural activities (like singing) have a positive effect on your perceived well being and general health, says study author Jonas Vaag, a clinical psychologist at Nord-Trøndelag Health Trust in Norway. Singing also triggers the release of endorphins, which boost your feelings of happiness and pleasure, finds a recent UK study.
Here are five more cool ways music can improve your life.
1. Rap Makes You More Creative
Make like Eminem in 8 Mile and start a freestyle rap battle. Spontaneous lyrical improvisation engages your brain’s prefrontal cortex region, which is responsible for creative thought, finds a new National Institutes of Health study. With those parts of your brain fired up, you’re more likely to experience new insights or bursts of creativity, the study suggests. Why does it work? Letting yourself “spitball”—or throw up ideas without pausing to make judgments—can fuel your creative mind.
2. Classical Music Helps You Focus
Rock out with your Bach out. Brain scans conducted by Stanford University researchers show classical music— especially complex, continually changing symphonies like those from Baroque composers like Bach and Handel—actually helps your mind focus and sort out information. Cognitive stumble—when your mind expects to hear something, but is surprised by an unanticipated chord or harmony—helps engage and sharpen brain regions responsible for attention and anticipation, the study authors say.
3. Fast Tunes Boost Your Speed
Music helped cyclists bike faster for longer periods and reduced game-day jitters among basketball players, according to two recent studies from Brunel University in the U.K. How? Music appears to rev up your central nervous system for activity while simultaneously helping to distract your mind from discomfort or difficulty, the research suggests. Expert tip: The research showed fast-paced, energetic music was best for physical activity, and inspirational music that builds to a climax is best for game-time prep. (Click here to find the perfect tracks to pump you up.)
4. Your Favorite Song Really Does Make It All Better
Listening to music that moves you triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in your brain that also heightens the pleasure you get from sensual experiences like food and sex, finds a study from McGill University. The key to the dopamine release is that the music must give you chills, the study authors explain. So whether it’s the theme to Shawshank Redemption or fun.’s rousing “We Are Young”, throw on your favorite inspirational tune to heighten the mood with your boyfriend—or the taste of a good ol’ cheeseburger. (Need to spice up your sexy playlist? Click here for the 10 best get-it-on songs.)
5. Certain Chords Can Heal You
The dentist office is on to something. Patients who listened to mellow music before, during, and after surgery reported reduced pain and anxiety and required less sedative medication, according to a University of Kentucky study. Here’s why: Music masks harsh sounds and irritating background noise while also engaging the listener emotionally. The result? Distraction from your pain, says study author Lori Gooding, Ph.D., director of music therapy at Kentucky. Chill out with artists like Enya, Jim Brickman, or Burt and Joe Wolff—they’re proven pain reducers, says Gooding. Need some more ideas? Check out music sites newworldmusic.com and serenitymusic.com.
photo: Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock
More from WH:
The Best Music for Yoga
8 Awesome Running Playlists
Music That’ll Keep You Motivated
Reprogram your metabolism, and keep the weight off for good with The Metabolism Miracle. Order now!
4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy
The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.
Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.
Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.
Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!
Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock
More from WH:
Why Being Neurotic Might Be a Good Thing
How Your Mood Affects Your Wallet
Are Monthly Mood Swings from Your Period a Myth?
Reprogram your metabolism, and keep the weight off for good with The Metabolism Miracle. Order now!
4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy
The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.
Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.
Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.
Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!
Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock
More from WH:
Why Being Neurotic Might Be a Good Thing
How Your Mood Affects Your Wallet
Are Monthly Mood Swings from Your Period a Myth?
Reprogram your metabolism, and keep the weight off for good with The Metabolism Miracle. Order now!
Gold Medalists Talk Olympic Manicures, Crazy Callouses, and Hardcore Sun Protection
Punishing practices aren’t the only ways Olympic athletes put the hurt on their bodies. For champion rowers like Mary Whipple, …
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