Summer officially started June 20 and while this time of the year brings vacations and additional time outdoors, it also brings additional risks.
Summer is when the sun’s ultraviolet rays are the most intense, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Ultraviolet rays are one of the key risk factors in developing melanoma, or skin cancer, said Dr. Johnie Rose, associate professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Beyond this being a particularly dangerous time of the year, Northeast Ohio residents face greater risks from skin cancer, he said. According to the medical school’s Population Cancer Analytics Shared Resource, which Rose directs, residents here develop skin cancer at a 14% higher rate and die from the cancer at a nearly 10% higher rate than the national average…