jad n rich

Did anyone else watch 60 minutes last night. (for those like us who find a lot of the stories mundane its worth watching the first 5 miins, they preview the stores and you can pick out whats worth watching)

Last night one was on skin cancer and with particular notation of the strength/danger of the australian sun.

In Feb they had apparently showed 3 young people 17 and early 20's and one 40ish with melanoma, now in May two of those men are dead.

The 17 year old whose cancer had been removed has two more and has been warned he may well die, due to the chances of the cancer quite possibly having spread to internal organs which is yet to appear, it was heartbreaking to see a kid dealing with the prosepect of death, the main link between all 4 was beach going with little thought to skin damage. The 17 year old is a keen surfer like all three of my sons.

The footage was quite graphic, showing a melanoma that had spread over most of the shoulder, upper back and chest about and the arm had been removed, the message was he wanted other aussies to see him like that so his death would help others. Other footage showed lumps in the body of a man with a young baby son, which had appeared 5/6 at a time after the initial diagnosis, he also died.

One of the most meaningful and worthwhile pieces of australian TV I have ever seen, and brutally honest, not a climate to take chances with.

www.skincancer.org
www.melanoma.net.au

*Written as an infomative thread which further spreads the intent of the piece, to save lives, not to start a UK/OZ sun debate as has happened in the past.

Megalania

It has been known for generations years that wearing broad rimmed hats, long trousers and, especially, opaque long sleeved shirts, keeping a moderate tan on exposed skin and keeping out of the noon day sunshine substantially reduces sun related skin cancer. Skin cancer ABC's and times tables expounded generationally:



SunSmart

The current fashion for baseball caps is plain thick.

jad n rich

Agree, wonder how many listen tho, they would if they saw last nights show, quite graphic for 7.30 time slot.

Megalania

And here is the video:

Sunburnt Country

Megalania

And in case anyone thinks "sun tan" lotion is an adequate protection - forget it - it's a con.

MrsDagboy

I made our boys (aged 7) watch both programs (Februarys & last nights). It was an absolutely fluke that we happened to catch both shows actualy, we rarely watch 60 Minutes.

I harp at them constantly about wearing a hat, sun safe clothing & sunscreen, hopefully it will sink in.

gdcollectables

Hi

do you know if the programme will be shown again?

I planned to watch it, but thought it was tonight!

gdcollectables

SORRY - ignore my question!

I've just seen the video link - thank you so much for that!

(How did you do it)?

Shellfish

I find it interesting that you see kids very 'prepared' when they are outside, hats and cream and those uv resistant costumes but then the parents will be sitting next to them on the beach and haven't taken any precautions at all, no hats or cream. It's just bizarre.

I grew up in S.Africa, so have seen the effect of long term sun damage, I just can't understand why someone would want to do that to themselves. Most British woman have the most stunning complexions, I would love to have skin like that.

I have noticed though, that if I sit in the sun in S.Africa compared to Australia, I tan a lot quicker over here. My skin doctor agreed (he grew up Jamaica) and said that it's due to the hole in the ozone over Aus. Pretty scary stuff.

Megalania

The Bedouin - SunSmartness so deeply imbedded in the culture:



that this:



is morally and criminally offensive. Not bad norks but.

Megalania

Southern Africa and Australia are at substantially similar lattitudes and are equally affected by upper atmosphere ozone depletion:

Badge

it is very noticeable that it is the older generation who have copped it the most. They talk about using olive oil as sun cream back in the 60s!!!

My generation fair better as the slip slap slop campaign had kicked in by then.
As migrants we are already ahead as well, by not having been exposed in childhood, or by say 30, our chances are significantly reduced.

Badge

Megalania

So why is it that MadDogs, EnglishPersons and NorthernEuropeans go out in the HighSummerSun?

Because you need some exposure to sunlight to keep you healthy and to reduce the probability of non-sun related melanoma. Yes, moderate tanning prevents melanoma and has other health benefits - but only if you don't wash too often.

moneypenny20

All we ever used to use was Nivea body lotion. Scary how much damage we unwittingly did ourselves. My mother was a nurse but there was just no info on the subject back then.

Megalania

There was plenty of info about excessive exposure to sunlight a generation ago - the young then chose to ignore it as they do today.