(Ivanhoe Newswire) Whether your skin turns red after a day in the sun or
not, both kinds of ultraviolet light are causing skin damage. However, new
research shows UVB light is more likely to cause skin cancer than UVA.
Researchers at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California have
shown cells have a more difficult time repairing the DNA damage done by UVB
light, which explains why UVA has been considered the less dangerous of the two.
Ahmad Besaratinia, PhD, lead author of the report, and his colleagues caution
this new information does not mean UVA light is not dangerous. It can and does
cause damage that leads to skin cancer.
The new research has moved the battle against skin cancer forward. Besaratinia
explains that the study “fills the gaps in knowledge of mechanisms involved in
sunlight associated skin cancers which cover various aspects of DNA damage and
repair and genetic alterations.”
The hope is the new information will lead to the development of more effective
sunscreens and after sun products as well as new ways to treat skin cancer.
SOURCE: FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental
Biology), July 2008
