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" Memorial Day is quickly approaching and that means one thing - sun, sun, and more sun! May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and here at GHRI we feel it is our duty to arm you with the best advice when it comes to making decisions regarding your health and safety. As you count down to your long weekend, we will be posting a blog entry each day that is chock full of information, expert advice, and action you can take to make sure you and your family have a safe and happy holiday. We had a very special visitor at the Institute last week, Steven Q. Wang, Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center at Basking Ridge NJ His advice for photoprotection is to stay out of the sun altogether - but that isn&amp;#039;t exactly practical or a very fun way to spend your summer. What he suggests you can do is cover yourself by wearing protective clothing and applying sunscreen. Dr. Wang is on the cutting edge of skin cancer research, and we&amp;#039;ll be offering his advice all week long. SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is a measure of a sunscreen&amp;#039;s ability to prevent UVB rays from damaging the skin. There are two types of ultraviolet rays that reach Earth&amp;#039;s surface, UVA and UVB. The energetic UVB rays are what cause sunburns. UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply and are associated with wrinkling, sagging, and other effects of photoaging. SPF indicates how long it will take for UVB rays to redden skin when using a sunscreen, compared to how long it would take without the product. For example, using an SPF 15 will take 15 times longer for your skin to redden than without the sunscreen. Many sunscreens on the market have labels claiming UVA ray protection, however, the actual amount of UVA ray protection is difficult to assess due to the current labeling. There is a long-overdue labeling system under consideration by the FDA. A UVA star rating would be displayed near the SPF rating on sunscreen labels. One star will represent low UVA protection and four stars will represent the highest. Any product that does not rate at least one star will be labeled &amp;quot;no UVA protection.&amp;quot; It is important to remember that sun-protection is not just about anti-aging. Harmful sunrays reach everyone. In fact, nearly twice as many men as women die of skin cancer each year. There is also rapid growth among white women ages 15 to 34, and one in five Americans will develop skin cancer over the course of their lifetime. Most people do not apply an adequate amount of sunscreen, and it is estimated that the effective SPF value of most sunscreens on the market is 1/3 of what the label says. Your best defense is to check back here all week long to learn from the pros about what you can do to block those rays this beach season! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a23092/skin-cancer-awareness-month/>