Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Sun Burns on the rise, which state is worst?



I just found this interesting article on sunburns. It is the latest study available, completed in 2004. the study looked at the rise in sunburns, state by state. Please make note this is a sunburn study, different than the state by state listing of the top 10 for newly diagnosed cases of Melanoma which I have previously listed. Remember sunburns are the first step toward the development of Melanomas. From the article:

Here is that list for 2004, the most recent year for which state statistics are available. States with the same percentage are ranked together. Hawaii and Guam didn't report sunburn statistics in the 2004 survey.
1.U.S. Virgin Islands: 50.1%
2.Utah: 49.9%
3.Minnesota: 48.7%
4.Wisconsin: 48.6%
5.Idaho: 48.5%
6.Wyoming: 48.3%
7.Vermont: 47.1%
8.Nebraska: 46.9%
9.North Dakota: 46.4%
10.South Dakota: 46.1%
11.Michigan: 45.6%
12.Missouri: 45.2%
13.Colorado: 45.1%
14.Montana: 44.1%
15.Maryland: 43.9%
16.New Hampshire: 43.8%
17.Iowa, Oregon, and Washington: 43.6%
18.Ohio: 43.4%
19.Indiana: 43.3%
20.Connecticut: 43.1%
21.Arkansas and Virginia: 42.9%
22.Pennsylvania: 42.7%
23.Maine and Massachusetts: 42.6%
24.Arizona: 42.1%
25.Illinois: 41.7%
26.South Carolina: 41.6%
27.Oklahoma: 41.5%
28.Delaware and Kansas: 41.4%
29.New Mexico: 41.3%
30.Mississippi: 40.5%
31.New Jersey and New York: 40.2%
32.Washington, D.C.: 40.1%
33.Alabama: 39.6%
34.Georgia: 39.2%
35.Rhode Island: 38.7%
26.Nevada: 38.3%
37.West Virginia: 38%
38.Florida and Texas: 37.7%
39.California: 34.8%
40.Alaska: 34.1%
41.Tennessee: 32.6%
42.Louisiana: 30.5%
43.North Carolina: 28.1%
44.Kentucky: 27%
45.Puerto Rico: 14.2%



The data don't show whether those people got sunburned in their home state or elsewhere, whether they got burned by the sun or in a tanning bed, or what (if any) sun protection they were using at the time.
The results appear in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.




For the full article and complete story please go to:http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=81463

9 comments:

Tahia said...

Oh, My God! The picture was so disturbing I could not look for too long! If people have doubts about the sun’s affects on their skin then this is the picture to "Show and Prove". The other bothersome thing is that even given the present condition of her skin she still continues her careless behavior. WOW!

Tahia said...

I have never done an anniversary. However, the same principles hold true (A celebration of Love). The thing that would make an anniversary better is the Love has been tested and it is Tried and True! I would love the honor and challenge to of putting one together. Especially a 50th!
E-mail me
sykeswisdom@comcast.net

Mary Lou said...

That picture should be the poster adult for prevention of excess sun exposure. People need to heed the warnings and protect themselves while in the sun and decrease the sun and tanning bed exposure time.

Linda's Blog said...

Yicks....

Eileen said...

After having spent a few days on the Cape--I must share that I did not see any sunburns--on the contrary i saw many people using and reapplying sunscreen, wearing hats and spending time out of the direct sun.thanks for the info--I agree with Linda on the picture--yuck

mcdj74 said...

Oh my god! That picture is so wrong!!! There is no way anyone could think that is attractive!

Jocelyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jocelyn said...

Chris,

I had no idea!! The results in the study are staggering!! Does this woman know how badly she really looks??

Danielle said...

Believe it or not, I have met people who really do look like the women depicted in that photo.

As a skin cancer educator living in Utah, I am embarrassed to say that Utah continually ranks high in national sunburn rates (and skin cancer risk). Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me ;)

At any rate, I did want to mention to your readers that it is vitally important that we protect our little ones from sunburn. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 80% of one's lifetime sun damage occurs before age 18. And with every "blistering, peeling" sunburn we sustain, our risk nearly doubles.

Thanks for sharing that photo! It certainly drives the message home, doesn't it? Many times my students, and pageant girls won't start re-thinking their sun-worshiping (and tanning) behavior until they see photos like this...

I have a friend, a five-time melanoma survivor, who spoke about the perils of tanning and showed some of her pictures. In doing so, she scared one of our students - a former Miss Utah (2006) so badly that she vowed to never tan again. She now uses the sunless tanning foams.

GREAT photo! It speaks volumes! I love the comments - I hope it convinced everyone to be SunSavvy!

Thanks,
Danielle
The Cancer Crusaders Organization
info@cancercrusaders.org
htp://onlyskindeepbook.blogpspot.com