You might be lamenting the end of summer, worried that you didn't quite get that tan that you hoped for, putting some money aside for a beach-side holiday or even just some regular sessions on a tanning bed. But hold up a second, because a study has shown that there's been a 41% rise in people needing treatment for skin cancer. And the rise isn't just down to Speedo-clad old retirees snoring away afternoons by the Med, but young people like us.
Apart from constant rise of over-60's getting skin cancer (sun-seeking package holidays are blamed for this), the rest of the surge – leading to 123,808 admissions for skin cancer treatment in England in 2011 – is down to young people using tanning beds or holidays in a bid to get that all-over glow.
Though it's still the oldies who are getting skin cancer at the most increasing rate, it's still to be taken seriously among young people as it's 'the fastest growing cancer in young people', according to Julia Verne, a skin cancer expert for Public Health England. As she put it to *The Mirror: *'This is a real concern'.
Jonathan Major, from the British Association of Dermatologists, also said: 'As holidays to sunny locations become cheaper and tanned skin remains a desirable fashion statement, we have an inevitable increase – and associated national health and financial burden.'
Today’s figures are a clear warning the public is still not taking the risks seriously enough,' said Macmillan Cancer Support chief medical officer Prof Jane Maher. 'What makes this even more alarming is that the disease is largely preventable, yet UK skin cancer death rates are among some of the worst in the world.'
Malignant melanomas are now the fifth highest form of cancer in the UK, killing 2,000 people a year. To stay safe, it's worth remembering that tan doesn't just come from days lolling about in the sun – doing nothing but stretching into ever more bizarre positions just to get that all-over tan – but in a bottle. Yeah, if you really want to get that year-round perma-glow, you could totally just douse yourself in St. Tropez the thing instead of St. Tropez* the place*. Cheaper, time-efficient and a load safer.
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.