Bikini watchers be aware
When customers order a bikini cut from Tiger Time Lawn Care in Memphis, they are paying a bit more for a bikini-clad woman to cut the grass.
"We had a couple of customers sitting in lawn chairs drink beer just enjoying the bikini cut," company owner Lee Cathey tells WMC-TV in Memphis. "The yards definitely get more attention when there's a bikini on the lawn."
Let's hope the oglers don't forget the sun block and get regular checkups by a skin specialist to rule out melanomas. "Men over age 50 comprised only 23.4 percent of the screening population, yet accounted for 31.6 percent of the total suspected melanomas identified," says dermatologist Dr. Darrell S. Rigel of the New York University Medical Center.
Rigel says there are five factors that independently increased the likelihood of suspected melanomas, and bikini-cut spectators definitely qualify for one, maybe two and possibly more. Those with four or five risk factors are more than four times likely to be diagnosed with melanoma, says Rigel.
Rigel uses the acronym HARMM to help people remember the five factors associated with increased melanoma detection.
The factors are:
-- History of previous melanoma.
-- Age over 50.
-- Regular dermatologist absent, i.e., not having a dermatologist do regular exams.
-- Mole changing.
-- Male gender.
Need a tan?
Tiger Time Lawn Care "attracts more attention to the ladies" than to the lawns they are mowing, according to bikini-wearing lawn mower Blair Beckman.
"You get the attention," Beckman told WMC-TV in Memphis. "But you also get a tan, which I need."
Need a tan? Surprisingly, the Harvard Health Letter reports recent findings at the Dana Farber Institute show a suntan is the body's best effort to fend off the known cancerous effects of sunlight. However, the researchers are emphatically on the side of avoidance of excessive ultraviolet exposure.
"Ultraviolet rays can kill you," declares Dr. John Laskas Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery. "It doesn't mean you have to stay in the basement. But it does mean you need to do more than apply a little sunscreen."
Fellow dermatologist Dr. Bruce Brod agrees. "Unfortunately, sunscreen gives us a false sense of security."
Laskas and Brod advise:
-- UV rays damage the skin 365 days a year, reflecting off snow and passing through car windows.
-- UV rays of tanning beds and booths cause skin damage leading to premature skin aging and a higher incidence of melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer.
-- Wear a sun block that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Wear sunglasses and a hat. Cover up as much skin as possible with clothing.
Don't let the eyes go naked
Ultraviolet light from the sun can trigger a host of ophthalmic maladies: cataracts, macular degeneration, corneal burns, benign growths, solar retinopathy and eye cancer.
"The best way to prevent these problems is to wear sunglasses with 100 percent UV protection," says Dr. Paul T. Finger, director of ocular tumor services at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. "Think of sunglasses as sun block for your eyes."
People who work outdoors, have blue eyes or take certain drugs are especially vulnerable to eye damage from sunlight, according to Finger.
Those with outdoor jobs such as construction workers, gardeners, truck drivers, pilots, park rangers, lifeguards, fishermen, police officers, couriers, farmers and ski instructors should don a hat, as well as sunglasses, says Finger.
"Certain drugs also increase UV toxicity," says Finger. "Patients who take chlorothiazides, sulfonamides, tetracycline, phenothiazines, psoralens, and allopurinol should be extra cautious about sunlight." Finger says:
-- Most brands of sunglasses sold in the United States today have 100 percent UV protection, but some knock-off brands may not.
-- People who have color vision problems may want to select gray glasses, especially for driving.
-- Polarizers and anti-reflective coatings can be added to any pair of sunglasses to decrease glare.
Lawnmowers not for children
Lawnmower injuries are a summertime threat to everyone, but especially children. It is the leading cause of amputations in adolescents, says Dr. Rick Redett of The Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.
"Every year, we see several children so badly injured by lawnmowers that they need amputation or extensive reconstructive surgery," says Redett. "Many more children end up in local emergency departments with a variety of mower-related injuries."
Redett and his colleagues ask parents to keep children under age 6 indoors while a mower is in operation and to let no child younger than 12 operate a walk-behind mower and no child younger than 16 use ride-on mowers, even with a parent. If a child comes toward a mower, turn it off immediately. Redett advises:
-- Wear protective goggles and close-toed shoes when operating a mower or when near one.
-- Before mowing, clean the lawn of debris such as sticks and stones, which may get caught in the blades and propelled out.
-- If injury occurs, call 911 immediately and apply pressure to the wound to stop bleeding.
-- Buy mowers with a no-reverse safety feature that requires the operator to turn around -- and see behind him or her -- in order to shift into reverse.
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(e-mail: [email protected])
