Price of package holiday era

Thursday April 1st, 2010

Cheap package holidays have created a generation of British pensioners facing a massively increased risk of developing deadly skin cancer, experts warned today.

So-called baby boomers in their 60s and 70s is five times more likely to contract melanoma than they would have been 30 years ago, according to a new analysis.

For men the risk has increased even more - by seven times. Out of 100,000 young pensioners, 36 will be diagnosed with the disease, according to Cancer Research UK.

More than 2,000 people a year in Britain die from melanoma.

Experts said the growing number of cases highlighted the dangers of tanning.

One patient Sue Deans, aged 64, from Dorset, England, recalled: "I was famous for getting brown. When I was younger having a tan was seen to be very attractive and I would spend hours in the sun without any protection.

"My skin would burn and peel and I would pick off the skin after it had blistered. And then when I was in my early 20s I began going abroad on holiday and would spend most of my time sunbathing."

Caroline Cerny, of Cancer Research UK, said: "A change in the culture of tanning including the explosion of cheap package holidays and the introduction of sun-beds in the seventies means we're now seeing alarming rates of melanoma for an entire age group.

"Today the problem threatens to get worse as teenagers continue to crave a tan on the beach and top it up cheaply on sun-beds. Already skin cancer is predicted to become the fourth most common cancer for men and for women in the UK by 2024.

"We must continue to try and stop this pattern of behaviour or melanoma rates in future generations will hit an all time high."

* A second study today warns that young women exposed to chemicals and pollutants face an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

The Canadian study found the highest risk was faced by women exposed to synthetic fibres and petroleum products at work.

Researchers studied some 1,100 middle-aged women in Montreal. About half were women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Working with acrylic fibres increased risk by seven times while nylon fibres doubled the risk of developing the cancer.

Occup Environ Med 2010; 67: 263-9

Tags: Cancer | Dermatology | Geriatric Health | Men’s Health | Traveller Health | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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