PERILS OF THE SUMMER SUN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 21 January 1926, Page 2

PERILS OF THE SUMMER SUN

A TIMELY WARNING A warm hath is all right ; hut not one in boiling water. Similarly, a "sunbath” is invigorating, hut in excess it may he injurious, otr even fatal. A warning is issued by Dr C. F. Pabst. in Popular Science Monthly (New York, August). One night last summer. Dr Pabst tells us, lie was called to attend one. of the worst cases of sunburn he had ever seen. The patient was a. young man who had spent the day at a bathing beach and, like many persons whose opportunities for outings are few, had made tlie. most of his time, remaining in the bathing suit for hours under the broiling midsummer sun. He was paying for his indiscretion . His face was fire-rod and swollen. His arms, sho-ii Aiders, and legs literally were scorched, just- as if he had exposed his naked body to the heat of a blast furnace. His eyes were narrow slits. He was nauseated and ha,j a high fever. He screamed with pain when the doctor attempted to treat him. We read further:— "For three days he remained in bed, deathly ill and scarcely able to move. His was an extreme case, and yet it was typical of thousands of others that. com e within my own and other skin specialist’s experience every summer. For few persons seem to realise that a severe case of sunburn actually is a dangerous affliction that causes not only pxcrucinting pain, hut may permanently affect the health, cause chronic, skin diseases, and (■veil result in death.

"So little do people understand sunburn that they often martyrise themselves by deliberately burning their skins, not for the beneficial effects of sunlight, hut to acquire a ‘coat of tan.' "An office-worker goes to the beach for a week-end. He decides to get a good coat of tan, anti impress his fellow-work-ers on Monday morning. He gets the tan, hut doesn’t appear Monday morning. He is in bed. The statistics of hours lest from work on account of sunburn, if such records were available. I am sure, would he amazing. In fact', a tanned skin is no index to health. A bronzed skin may cover the most serious of body disorders.

"July anj August are the dangerous months for sunburn, for then the sun delivers the most ultra-violet, the invisible part of sunshine that burns the skin. Ultra-violet light, we recently discovered. helps cure many ills. It is specially beneficial in treating skin diseases, such as acne and eczema. But while it is good for us to he in the sunshine, out-of-doors, the danger lies in getting too large a close of the ultraviolet light in a single exposure. "Sunburn is caused when ultra-violet light is stopt in the skin cells. The light causes a chemical change. A poison is manufactured that, enters the blood, causing fever arid headache. The chemical burn kills th n skin. Some of this dead skin has to he absorbed by the Tilood, and the process adds to the poisoning. All this means extra work for the blood. Large supplies of blood rush to the hurried surfaces with consequent disturbance of the circulatory system. This may he followed by congestion of the lungs and inflammation of the kidneys.

“The heat of sunshine has nothing to do with th e burning. Yen can prove this for yourself. Expose your arm to a 90-degree temperature before a fireplace, or immerse it in hot water. Th e skin reddens, hut the redness disappears when the heat is removed. Expose your arm in direct sunlight, of the same temperature for two or three hours, and you will receive a'hum lasting for days. Sometimes, not always, sunburn is followed by pigmentation—discolouration of th 0 skin—the familiar ‘coat of tan.’ Sometimes this pigment , instead of being distributed evenly, collects in spots that are called freckles. The pigment is manufactured in the deepest inyer of skin cells. Under a microscope the pigment looks like tiny particles of brown paint. The more of these particles manufactured the darker the skin becomes.

“But perhaps you arc one of those unfortunate individuals who never tan. You suffer far worse from sunburn than your bronze,] companion. Why?” “The latest experiments with ultraviolet might lead us to believe,” Dr Pabst says, that, the presence of pigment in the skin aids in transmission of light. That, is, after you have acquired a coat of tan, the ultra-violet, light can gel through your skin, enter the blood, and be diflused through the body without being stopped on the way to produce a chemical hum.’ ’ ITe goes on “Recent- tests indicate that, there may be relief for non-tanning skins in a preparation containing eseuliii, derived from horse chestnuts. This is put on before exposure to the sun. “When you fish or lie iri the sun for hours at a. time, exposing skin that has been protected all winter, you are inviting trouble . 'Flip skin cannot manufacture pigment quickly enough or in large enough quantity to protect you from burns. "Hunts may be considered in three • lasses, —first degree, when the skin is riinply inflamed ; second degree, when blisters are formed ; and third degree, when charing takes place. A burn of the first, degree, covering the entire body, probably woul,] result in death. A blistering burn on half the body would be as severe, and a charring burn on a third of thp body, equally so. That is. a. superficial burn is as serious as one that blisters, if covering twice the area. “You probably have notice,] that you have suffered vour worst burns while yon were on water in a boat. That is because water reflects ultra-violet light, arid this readies your face arid eyes, even if they are protected from direct rav« of the sun bv a hat. “One of the best, arid simplest treatments for shock from sunburn is to get into a ful» of lukewarm water into which a potin,] of bicarbonate of soda has been dissolved. A physician always should ho called, since heart, stimulants may he ventured to prevent collapse. Anv sort of fat helps to soothe sunburn. Either lard or butter can he used in an emergency.”