A SUMMER HOLIDAY IN WINTER

Central and Northern Europeans are generally prone to sunburn, and the closer one gets to the Equator, the less self-protective the melanin present in the skin is. In Mediterranean areas such as Italy and Spain this self-protection is one half of that at home. In Equatorial countries such as Kenya it is only one third. The skin is also thinner and more sensitive in winter making it more susceptible to damage. This damage is not just the obvious sunburn, it also shows up later in the form of skin aging. Our skin’s reaction to damage is premature aging such as wrinkles, liver spots and benign tumours.

Pharmacy customer: Hello, we’re going on holidays next week and I’d like to stock-up on things for my travel pharmacy. I need insect repellent and a small bottle of disinfectant.
PTA: Here you are. Have you thought about sun cream?

Oh, I’m just taking along the sun cream left over from last summer. We are going to Kenya.
I see. But it’s essential to use the correct protection for your skin type and the region you go.

Skin type? I have no idea what skin type I am! I burn easily and it takes me ages to get a tan!
That is type II.

Why should I worry so much about which skin type I am and which products to use?
You see the rays of the sun have become quite aggressive over the period of the last thirty years or so. Added to this is increase of Europeans traveling to holiday destinations that would have been considered exotic twenty years ago. Considering these factors, it is not surprising that the incidence of skin-cancer has increased in the last years.

I see. That is bad!
The other most common skin problem for us Europeans is premature skin aging. Repeated exposureto the damaging ultra-violet rays of the sun, especially without the proper sun protection factor, causes the connective tissue to break down and leads to the formation of deep wrinkles, thinner more translucent skin, freckles and liver spots. And that’s only the best case situation!

Really, if that’s the best case, what’s the worst?
There’s malignant melanoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma to name but two. About two or three years ago, there was a nationwide campaign to make people aware of the dangers of exposure to the sun and quite a few GPs participated in advanced training to help in the early recognition of such skin disorders.

Good to know. Can you recommend a good sun cream?
Certainly! This one here has factor 50+. And here’s the matching after sun care, moisturising after a day in the sun is important.

Thanks.
You’re welcome. Goodbye! 

VOCABULARY

considers beachtet fair-skinned hellhäutig prone to anfällig für self-protective selbstschützend sensitive sensibel damage Schaden, Beschädigung skin aging Hautalterung premature aging vorzeitige Alterung wrinkles Falten, Runzeln liver spots Leberflecken benign gutartig threat Gefahr insect repellent Insektenschutzmittel disinfectant Desinfektionsmittel incidence Vorkommen exposure Aussetzung, Bestrahlung connective tissue Bindegewebe break down abbauen more translucent durchscheinender freckles Sommersprossen malignant bösartig squamous cell Plattenepithelkarzinom carcinoma Stachelzellkrebs early recognition Früherkennung moisturising feuchtigkeitspendend

Den Artikel finden Sie auch in Die PTA IN DER APOTHEKE 03/13 auf Seite 56.

Catherine Croghan, Lecturer in English and native speaker