Published 6 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1130
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1130

Letters

Sun and melanoma

Time to go to get your hat

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cooper (doi 10.1136/bmj.a1126) finds Menzies’s observations more compelling than Shuster’s, as he expects most dermatologists in the world would.^{1 2} He is also concerned about Shuster’s article translating into an epidemic of non-melanoma skin cancer. Finally, he professes to be unaware of evidence that ultraviolet light may protect against some forms of cancer.

We would therefore direct him to our recent lesson of the week and its accompanying editorial.^{3 4} The evidence linking major cancers—including breast, prostate, pancreas, and colon—to UVB light under-exposure is actually rather stronger than is the evidence linking melanoma (quantitatively responsible for an order of magnitude fewer deaths) to UVB over-exposure.^{3 4}

This debate highlights how the more we as specialty doctors diverge from the common stem of general internal medicine that nurtured us, the greater the risk of our missing the bigger picture when an issue transcends specialty boundaries.

Incompletely justified high profile media campaigns about sunlight . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Endocrine Unit, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP

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