Minnesota on the Top 5 List of States for Getting Skin Cancer
Are you thinking of skipping the sunscreen this spring? After seeing where our state ranks on a list of the states with the highest rates of Melanoma, you might think differently.
QuoteWizard.com shared study findings on this topic based on 2013-2017 CDC Cancer Statistics. You might think that the super sunny states were the highest on the list. Places like Arizona, California, and Texas with their year-round sunshine had to top the list, right?
Here's how the top 5 came out in the study, as well as the rate of new melanoma cases per capita figure of cases per 100,000 people:
1. Utah - 40.4
2. Vermont - 37.6
3. New Hampshire - 32.1
4. Minnesota - 31.7
5. Delaware - 29.5
You're probably noticing how most of the top 5 lands along the northern edge of our country. There's a theory for this:
The cause is likely due to the risk factors associated with skin cancer. One of the biggest risk factors in developing melanoma is sunburns. Severe sunburns damage the DNA of skin cells, causing new skin cells to grow out of control and become cancerous. The higher rate of melanoma cases in the northern, cold-weather states could very well be due to a higher rate of sunburns compared to southern, warmer states.
In addition to the higher sunburn rate, people in the south are better at protecting themselves than we are up north. They make year-round habits of wearing sunscreen, and shielding their skin from the sun's rays. Whereas up in Minnesota, the second the sun comes out we try to soak in as much of it as we can.
This study also compared how likely men vs. women were to get a Melanomo diagnosis. In Minnesota, men were ranked 5th in the country with a new case rate of 35.2 per capita, and women were ranked third in the country with a new case rate of 27.8 per capita.
As we switch gears to warmer, sunnier weather be sure you're taking the right steps to protect yourself. Layer on the sunscreen when outdoors every two hours, use SPF 30 or higher, and if possible wear gear that blocks the sun from hitting your body.
Tans are temporary, skin health is forever.
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