I heard the UV cause skin cancer, I’m a brown guy and never wear sunscreen, does that mean I have a higher likelihood of getting skin cancer?
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People with darker skin have more melanin which helps to protect against the sun, but you should still be wearing sunscreen.
The upside of being brown is that you don’t turn red when you get sunburnt you get darker, but you still get sunburnt and from personal experience it takes longer to get sunburnt.
So yeh, wear your sunscreen.
the tan/brown color in humans is melanin, a pigment that is exceptionally good at absorbing harmful radiation from the sun and shielding your skin cells from being damaged, aka sunburn. Those with darker skin are more resistant to being sunburnt, though you are not immune by any stretch. It would be wise to at least wear sunscreen if you plan to be outside in the sun for a very long period of time.
Dark black skin is similar to 13 SPF, tan on a white person is like 3 SPF. You should still wear sunscreen
It strongly depends on where the person lives.
I live in Melbourne and worked in oncology. It’s horrifying the central African people here who don’t understand that the UV power in summer, this far south, is incredibly dangerous.
So a Sudanese in England’s summer probably doesn’t need to really really worry about sunscreen, the UV doesn’t exceed 8 and 8 is rare.
But a Sudanese in Melbourne’s summer with UV rating often reaching 14 absolutely needs to wear sunscreen.
While we are on the topic: a tan is Not protection. A tan is evidence of skin damage.
Being dark skinned gives you a little bit more protection against the sun, but it’s not enough protection by itself by any stretch of the imagination.
Black people do get sunburnt, and black people do also face the same risk of skin damage and skin cancer.
It’s very important that you apply sunscreen. Whilst you might be slightly better protected, you can still get skin cancer from sun damage, and skin cancer is more likely to go undetected in colored people.
Yes. UV damages skin.
Melanin is estimated to be, at most, equivalent to SPF ~2… meaning with a high UV index 8-10, if a pale person burns in 5 minutes, a more melaninated skintype burns in double the time, or 10 minutes. Check out the Fitzpatrick scale and “time to burn” in a given UV.
It offers a bit of extra time, but “melanin can also have toxic properties, especially after exposure to UVR” in in vitro studies. Pheomelonin (red/brown) is a bigger culprit than eumelanin (black/brown). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2671032/
Melanin can be a small boost but by itself isn’t really sufficient – the American Academy of Dermatology recommends using sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends SPF 15 every day.
You’re less likely to get sunburned or get cancer than my fair-skinned self, but your skin certainly isn’t immune to skin cancer.
If you live in areas with high UV index, the sun can most certainly fuck up your skin. Just less easily as a light-skinned one.
As one of my favorite comedians said “it’s melanin, not Teflon.” Indeed you’re more protected from UV than someone with lighter skin, but you certainly aren’t immune or anywhere near as protected as an SPF50 sunscreen.
It’s like a light shirt will protect you more from the cold than being naked, and it may be enough for a mild winter… but it’s nothing compared to a proper winter jacket.
I’m a brown dude in Europe and I won’t put on sunscreen for something like a walk in the park. But if I’m in direct sun for more than 30 mins and the UV index is higher than 6, then I’m certainly going to wear sunscreen.
PSA: if you’re also living somewhere where the winters nights are long, as a brown dude you should keep in mind your vitamin D level. Our melanin makes our skin less efficient at vitamin D production.
That’s what I was told when I worked at a summer camp in the US South. Everyone, regardless of skin color, had to wear to sunscreen.
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