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Show MEDIC ASS'N ADVISES ON RURAL HEALTH (Following is the first of a series of articles dealing briefly with a wide range of common health problems, especially es-pecially prepared for rural readers through the Council Coun-cil on Rural Health, American Ameri-can Medical Association, and released by the Utah State Medical Association.) SUNBURN Many otherwise enjoyable summer activities are made unpleasant oecause people forget, for-get, or are blissfully unaware of, a few basic facts concerning concern-ing exposure to sunlight. Since "Old Sol" is the source of all energy, it is only reasonable to assume that prolonged exposure ex-posure to solar rays can have serious consequences. Severe sunburn is rarely a problem for farm workers because year-in, year-out exposure ex-posure usually gives the farmer farm-er a healthy respect for the sun. However, let the farmer and his family take a vacation to the ocean or the mountains moun-tains and they can acquire just as serious a burn as their city cousins. It was once believed that a deep sun tan was as beautiful as it was attractive, but recent evidence seems to indicate the opposite. When the skin is exposed to an excessive amount of tanning, as in people who work outdoors most of the time, it shows certain changes which may best be described as premature aging. This "aging" is usually accompanied ac-companied by harmful changes in the glands and hair follicles. Long term exposure can also be a factor in the development of certain types of skin cancer can-cer which fortunately can be easily removed. So if one is outdoors a lot, it's wise to get maximum protection from adequate ade-quate clothing and protective ointments or lotions. Vacation-type sunburn varies in degree as does any other burn, from mild redness to severe third degree, blistering burns. The severity of a sunburn sun-burn depends on several factors such as the sensitivity of the individual's skin, the amount of pigment it contains, the length of time exposed, the altitude of the exposure, and the use or non-use of protective pro-tective agents. It is common sense for everyone exposed to the sun to take the necessary precautions pre-cautions to protect the skin from injury. There are many commercial lotions and creams on the market today which contain materials which effectively ef-fectively filter out most of the sun's harmful rays. Zinc oxide paste affords good protection against the sun drying and cracking lips, |
