What exactly is the sun damage called and what can be done about it medically? Does it affect your vision at all? I have the beginning of cataracts, but I don't know if it's from exposure to the sun, more like my age (68) and I can't drive at night because the lights totally blind me - not very safe!
However, very many desert Australian Aboriginal people do have cataracts and other eye conditions and there's a high rate of blindness in the very old traditional people, so that could be sun damage and also daily exposure to camp fires, including sleeping alongside them.
Because of that, it doesn't look as if my Aboriginal ancestry (great grandmother) would protect me from cataracts but may do so in relation to skin cancer: years ago a GP speculated that even though I'm not dark skinned there may be enough extra melatonin in my skin to explain my vitamin D deficiency.
I live in what used to be a country town, now a tourist area, and I often see elderly men who look like former farmers with dressings on their faces where presumably they've had skin cancers removed. People used to call them "sun spots" - how misleadingly innocuous does that sound? A bit like "tanning" - ie exposing one's skin to the sun until it's damaged but a more fashionable colour!
Genetically, your ancestors wouldn't have been exposed to the amount of sun anyone in this country now is and you also have to factor in the changes in clothing: it would've been a bit hard for women to get sunburnt in all those layers the pioneer women wore and the big hats and in those days pale skin was the fashion.
I reckon you're pretty safe if you follow the opthamologist's advice and keep an eye on any skin changed.
is it normal that I like to sunbathe nude whenever possible .
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What exactly is the sun damage called and what can be done about it medically? Does it affect your vision at all? I have the beginning of cataracts, but I don't know if it's from exposure to the sun, more like my age (68) and I can't drive at night because the lights totally blind me - not very safe!
However, very many desert Australian Aboriginal people do have cataracts and other eye conditions and there's a high rate of blindness in the very old traditional people, so that could be sun damage and also daily exposure to camp fires, including sleeping alongside them.
Because of that, it doesn't look as if my Aboriginal ancestry (great grandmother) would protect me from cataracts but may do so in relation to skin cancer: years ago a GP speculated that even though I'm not dark skinned there may be enough extra melatonin in my skin to explain my vitamin D deficiency.
I live in what used to be a country town, now a tourist area, and I often see elderly men who look like former farmers with dressings on their faces where presumably they've had skin cancers removed. People used to call them "sun spots" - how misleadingly innocuous does that sound? A bit like "tanning" - ie exposing one's skin to the sun until it's damaged but a more fashionable colour!
Genetically, your ancestors wouldn't have been exposed to the amount of sun anyone in this country now is and you also have to factor in the changes in clothing: it would've been a bit hard for women to get sunburnt in all those layers the pioneer women wore and the big hats and in those days pale skin was the fashion.
I reckon you're pretty safe if you follow the opthamologist's advice and keep an eye on any skin changed.