Irish are 14th most susceptible to skin cancer, study finds

Ireland was ranked 14th in a global chart of predisposition to skin cancer, a new medical study shows.

New Zealand has the highest rate of skin cancer, according to the annual susceptibility index for skin cancer. It is followed by Australia, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. Ireland ranks behind Germany and just ahead of Belgium.

The study is produced by Derma.plus, a German organization that provides online dermatological advice to leading physicians. The United Kingdom ranked tenth in the study, and the United States had the ninth highest rate of skin cancer.

The vast majority of the top 20 countries were in Europe, and the study examined 62 countries in total.

The skin cancer incidence score, ranging from 10 to one, is calculated based on the number of new melanoma cases in each country and the total population of the country.

The index considers several other factors, such as the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) rays, the skin type and the total amount of melanoma diseases per year.

Ireland records, on average, 859 melanoma-related diseases a year, according to the study.

Prof Dietrick Abeck, chief medical adviser at Derma.plus, said the amount of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers "has increased dramatically in recent decades".

"Not surprising"

Dr. Patrick Ormond, consultant dermatologist at the Skin Cancer Unit at St. James Hospital, Dublin, said that Ireland's position in the painting was "not surprising". in the sun, we were not designed to sunbathe for long periods of time, "he explained. There were a number of factors behind Ireland's skin cancer rates, which rose for several years, he said.

These included persons traveling abroad, an aging population, the use of tanning beds, the type of fair skin of the Irish, and bad practices. in the protection of the skin against the sun.

The current summer of unusually hot and sunny weather will likely have an "impact" on skin cancer rates, he said.

"There is a gap between the damage and the development of cancer, but we could see it in 10 to 15 years," he said.

Dr. Ormond said that one of our main misunderstandings is that "the Irish sun is different from the sun in Spain".

"The biggest mistake we make is to equate heat with radiation.The radiation concentrated in Ireland in the middle of summer is probably the same as Spain, but we do not not notice because it's not so hot, "he said.

Many Irish people were unaware that ultraviolet rays still had a harmful impact on the skin, even on cloudy days.

Dermatologists often mistakenly insisted on the use of a sunscreen with a high factor as the best way to protect the skin in the sun, said Dr. Ormond, when it comes to to encourage people to avoid spending long periods in the sun.