You've heard it again and again: stay out of the sun if you want to protect yourself from skin cancer. But apparently we're all not listening. More than one million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every year.
Until recently, little could be done to erase the damage from sun overexposure. But researchers have just developed a cream that may be able to repair sun-damaged DNA and help decrease the risk of skin cancer, reports this article from The Record of Bergen County, N.J.
The cream is called Dimericine and it lowered the incidence of skin cancer in a very sun-sensitive population. In the fall, the researchers plan to test the cream in three sun-soaked cities -- San Diego, Los Angeles and Jacksonville, Fla. Of course, even if all goes well, it would still be some time before this product would be commercially available.
In the meantime, slather on sunscreen, wear protective clothing when you can and avoid the sun when its rays are strongest, usually between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., suggests this article from the University of Michigan.
