I’ve seen so many different takes on sunscreen that I had to do something about it. Here is my best effort to summarize the current research.
What does sunscreen do?
Without getting into technical details, sunscreen reflects or scatters UV radiation (mainly from the sun), offering protection against sunburn (Norval & Wulf 2009).
Consequently, sunscreen also reduces “the severity of solar elastosis, the development of solar keratoses, new naevi, SCCs and cutaneous photodamage, and the reactivation of herpes labialis,” all of which are pretty nasty things caused by overexposure to the sun.
With that out of the way, let's move on to a bigger question.
Is sunscreen really effective against skin cancer?
There are different types of skin cancer. In this section,... (read 1696 more words →)