Serious Skin Care

A sunburn is a burn to living tissue such as skin produced by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, commonly from the sun's rays. Exposure of the skin to lesser amounts of UV will often produce a suntan. more...

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Usual mild symptoms in humans and animals are red or reddish skin that is hot to the touch, general fatigue, and mild dizziness. An excess of UV-radiation can be life-threatening.

Excessive UV-radiation is the leading cause of skin cancer. While sunburn is prevented through the use of sunscreen the effectiveness of sunscreen to prevent malignant melanoma is debated and many scientists believe it is counterproductive in this respect. Therefore clothing (and hats) is considered the better method to protect your skin. Moderate sun tanning without burning can also prevent sunburn as it increases the amount of melanin in the skin, which is the skin's natural defense against overexposure. Importantly, the sunburn and the increase in melanin production are both triggered by direct DNA damage. When the skin cells' DNA is warped by UV radiation, programmed cell death is triggered and the skin is replaced. Malignant melanoma, however, are a result of the indirect DNA damage.
The only cure for sunburn is slow healing, although some skin creams can help with the symptoms.

Cause

Sunburn is caused by the UV-radiation stemming from the sun, from tanning lamps, or from welding arcs. It is a reaction of the body to the direct DNA damage which can result from the excitation of DNA by UV-B light. This damage is mainly the formation of a thymine thymine dimer. These damages are recognized by the body and they trigger several defense mechanisms. These include DNA repair to revert the damages and an increased melanin production to prevent future damages. Melanin transforms UV-photons quickly into harmless amounts of heat without generating free radicals and therefore it is an excellent photoprotectant against direct and indirect DNA damages.

On an evolutionary level the sunburn may have developed as a warning signal that deters humans from sun seeking behaviour which induces infertility. Importantly it has been shown that protecting against sunburn with chemical sunscreens does not imply protection against other damaging effects of UV-radiation.

Sunburn and skin cancer

Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation causes sunburns and increases the risk of certain types of skin cancer (basal-cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma).

Read more at Wikipedia.org