“Excessive (sun) avoidance and UV screening is a danger because it does not allow a tan, nature’s own sun block, to develop and as a result exposure is likely to cause sun-burn. The dogma, now fossilised in print, is that any tan is a sign of skin damage. Tell that to Darwin. Pigmented melanocytes in the skin are a system that protects it from excessive UV, which evolved long before the advent of sunscreens. Even if there was hard evidence that melanoma was UV-induced it would be all the more important to keep a protective tan.”

— Professor of Dermatology Sam Shuster, from his essay, “The Skin Cancer Cover-Up.” Shuster is Emeritus Professor of Dermatology at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in , and Honorary Consultant to the Department of Dermatology, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. His essay is from a chapter in the book, Panic Nation? Unpicking the Myths We’re Told About Food and Health.

Click here to read Shuster’s entire column.

The book, Panic Nation? Unpicking the Myths We’re Told About Food and Health is available on-line at www.Amazon.com.