Cancer teleology
It astonishes me what passes for reasoning among “conservatives.”
“Steve Gruber, host of the conservative network’s morning program Day Break, made the announcement Wednesday alongside his guest and wife, Ivey Ramos Gruber, who agreed sunglasses might also be unnecessary. The segment fits neatly into the MAHA movement’s growing anti-sunscreen wing — and straight into a public health nightmare.
“Steve Gruber played a clip of Valerie Anne Smith, an Ohio-based social media influencer who bills herself as a medical and health authority on X, where she has more than 246,000 followers. Smith has no listed medical credentials.
“The sun that is giving life to all of us on this earth, this plane of existence, is not here to cause cancer,” Smith said in the clip.”
Tanning beds are not here to cause cancer, but they do. HPV is not here to cause cancer, but it does. Tobacco isn’t here to cause cancer, but it does. Asbestos isn’t here to cause cancer, but it does. Chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infections aren’t here to cause cancer, but they do.
Yes, Virginia, sunlight can cause cancer
I wasn’t but … One) I tend to avoid going out in the weather these days, it tends to highlight my genetic diversity and this isn’t exactly the “climate” for that but two) I’m astonished at how what was a genetic aberration has inbred itself into an “ethnicity” with all the attendant inbred insanity. And that’s on top of my astonishment at their hate for darker-skinned people and the effort they then put into making themselves darker. It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that somethin’ ain’t quite right about “white”
Every farmer knows the best eggs come from a cock brought afar …
I am one of the fair skinned who mostly burn not tan. Consequently I avoid the sun like it was the plague. After several second degree sunburns I just stopped going outside unless I had to. The sun doesn’t exist to blister people either, but it does. That is a warning sign for the damage it can do.
Jane:
Yes it can do so. As I aged, my skin has become sensitive to over exposure to the sun. It felt good this morning since I was sick all day yesterday and cold. Right now? Even though it is seventy+ outside. I am wearing an insulated vest.
Another episode which I believe is related to ITP.
@Jane,
Same. And I’ve had two Mohs surgeries to remove basal cell carcinomas from my face. Dozens of actinic keratoses burned off with nitrogen. When I’m outdoors, I wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, a hat with a brim, and I try to stay as much as possible in the shade.
Having been around for more than a third as long as this great republic, I share my sun avoidance with other commenters.
As a cyclist, I used to use sunscreens but gave up on them a while ago. The reason? Zinc oxide sunblocks refuse to come off, so I used to walk around with a semi-permanent, ghastly white pallor. I even called the manufacturer of one to find a fix. They assured me it came off with soap and water. Wrong. Even facial makeup removers left my face pitted with white dots deposited in my pores.
While “generally recognized” to be safe, I still find it disconcerting to have heavy metals sitting on my skin for extended periods of time.
I mean, what’s with America’s vaunted technology and entrepreneurship when it can’t even develop a cheap, effective, sunscreen that can be removed when you’re not in the sun?
John:
I agree with that reasoning on zinc oxide. Things hava a habit of becoming bad after a while.
@John,
As a former cyclist, I used sunscreen a lot. None of them contained zinc. They all were quite effective for the surfaces I used them on. I recall after one long day’s ride in the Rockies discovering that I was sunburned on my scalp from where the slats in my helmet let sunlight through. Also, a thin strip of skin on my lower back where the bottom edge of my jersey didn’t quite meet the upper edge of my shorts.
Double Och!
John:
I would wonder about zinc also. Here is an interesting comment: “Sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, a common ingredient, loses much of its effectiveness and becomes toxic after two hours of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, according to a collaboration that included Oregon State University scientists.” Oregon State University
I’ll leave the matter of sun on skin to others, but the mention of sunglasses caught my attention. I bought some in my 20s (prescription) without actually thinking about it much. Then I realized I rarely used them except as a kind of fashion accessory. Eventually I gave them up entirely. I make the rare exception on bright winter days with lots of fresh snow. Do humans actually need sunglasses?
The other animals I see don’t seem to be squinting. Cows have their eyes wide and look calm in the bright sunshine. Anyway, how would natural selection work on the development of eyes to not handle the normal intensity of the natural light source? Did the sun get brighter? Are all animals suffering and only humans had the capacity to develop sunglasses?
@Eric,
I’ve never used sunglasses.
Eric:
Their eyes are susceptible to damage from the sun. Farmers may have open shelters for them to go in and out of at times. I am reading trees are often on the site. It is problematic for animals too.
I live in the Pacific Northwest and usually wear sunglasses outdoors during the daylight hours. Bright sunlight is fatiguing. My eyes used to feel burned out after a day outdoors without them. It’s even worse if one has spent the day on the water. Snow covered terrain and bright desert sand are pretty awful, too.
To be honest, I haven’t noticed any cows wearing shoes or deer wearing pants, but that doesn’t mean they don’t give humans an advantage we would otherwise lack. We aren’t living on the savanna in Africa anymore.
Seth:
In Cuba we never had sun glasses. Just our regular USMC lids (cap). Today they have a protective coating which blocks most of UV. That and a cap og my choice goes a long way in protecting my eyes in AZ.
@Bill,
I’ve been wearing untinted glasses since third grade. Both glass and polycarbonate lenses are naturally UV opaque, although you can pay extra for a UV coating.
I personally verified this with my own glasses years ago. I popped out one of the lenses and placed it in my lab spectrophotometer. They blocked all transmission in the UV spectrum.