It’s no wonder I’m cranky….. is there any good news these days?

There are some who have suggested to me that since I started writing this column I have become very cranky and I am always complaining about something. Well, that may very well be the case but that is probably because there is no shortage of things to complain about. And I might as well tell you that I’m far from finished yet.

I have been moaning about the climate in Ireland for some time now. Especially after the winter we’ve just had which must have been one of the wettest on record. So after months of dirty grey clouds, non-stop rain, wind, cold and dampness, we’re entitled to get excited about a bit of sunshine. We didn’t get to see all that much of it this summer.

But as soon as the sun comes out to play we have the merchants of doom telling us how bad the sun is. How it shrinks our skin and makes us look like prunes, all mummified and leathery looking. They tell us to stay away from it and to remain indoors for all eternity and hide behind the couch. Pull down the blinds and block out those nasty rays.

Don’t dare to look out the window. White is good they say so use factor 90 on your skin all year round. While you’re waiting for Santa to come down the chimney you should splash some gunk on the entire family including the dog, the budgie and anyone who comes to visit.

I heard an expert one day on the radio giving advice about skin care. The source of her expertise wasn’t quite clear to me at the time but she was basically advocating that we should be using factor 50 sun protection from March to October. She was adamant that every piece of exposed skin should be plastered in the stuff. We should also be wearing hats, sun glasses, gloves and body armour.

Now, I’m not too sure where this lady came from but she didn’t sound too exotic so I imagine she was from around these parts. Even a casual observer of the weather in this neck of the woods would probably determine that we don’t get a lot of sunshine. Even in the sunny south east, grey is the predominant colour so maybe someone should tell her to calm down a bit.

I can recall being in Australia many years ago and I was told that if the children came to school without sun screen and a hat they wouldn’t be allowed outdoors for any recreation. They would remain inside until they were collected at the end of the school day. The Aussies are paranoid about the effects of the rays of the sun and the associated risk of skin cancer.

And that’s understandable. The sun shines there for most of the year and their summers are hot enough to cook humans. Considering that there is a huge hole in the Ozone Layer over their heads, then that probably gives them the right to be cautious. Skin cancer is a serious business.

According to the Irish Cancer Society, the best way to prevent all types of skin cancer is to avoid overexposure to the sun. The sun is usually at its hottest around midday, but it can also be very strong and have potentially damaging effects at other times. Their advice is not to spend long periods in the sun during the day and to make sure you spend time in the shade and cover up with clothes as well as sunscreen.

The Irish Association of Dermatologists is Ireland’s leading professional body on skincare. They recommend that people do not use sunbeds or sunlamps. Sunbeds and lamps can be more dangerous than natural sunlight because they use a concentrated source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

According to the Irish Examiner, Irish skin cancer rates have risen by 39% in little over a decade, with sun exposure in childhood contributing to as many as 4,280 adult diagnoses every year. The findings are revealed in a detailed analysis of trends over the past 20 years published by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland.

According to the report, every year an average of 6,889 cases of “invasive skin cancer” are diagnosed in this country — the equivalent of 18 patients a day. From the mid-1990s until the end of 2001, the research team, said there was “little overall change in incidence rates, with rates in females remaining fairly level and a slight decline in males”.

The research by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland also found that men are more likely than women to develop skin cancer. The report said adult men have a far higher risk of developing tumours on their scalp, neck, and arms.

The study suggested this “may relate to the greater proportion of males having outdoor occupations and therefore more long-term chronic sun exposure than females”. As in other countries, the majority of diagnoses involved patients over the age of 60.

So the general advice from those in the know would appear to be to stay out of the sun if you can. If you can’t, then make sure the sun can’t get at you and above all, avoid sunbeds altogether. Staying out of the sun is not a difficult task for anybody living in Ireland and it’s just as well we’re not advised to stay out of the rain.

I have an idea and just to be on the safe side this is what you should do. Put your bucket and spade in the recycling and go find yourself a cave where you can live like a bat and you should be safe enough. Of all the bats that you know personally, I bet you can’t name one that has skin cancer.