This article talks about the importance of protecting yourself from the harsh UV rays from the sun while being outside. A recent study done by Ohio University drew promising results that lead to the possibility of being able to reduce your risk of melanoma, a strand of skin cancer, by 80%, simply by using sunscreen rated SPF 30 or above. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, so being able to reduce the population that it affects by 80% would be huge. While the results are promising, things are still very early on in the process. The experiment is currently being conducted with mice. They are able to not only prevent UVB burns, but also stop the harmful rays from giving the mice melanoma.
Different types of SPF 30 sunscreens were tested and regardless of manufacturer/ type, they were all able to delay and prohibit the disease. The project also only used short UVB bursts in an attempt to be time efficient. This doesn’t accurately simulate long term exposure to the sun, but it gives a baseline. There’s still progress to be made, however, this new research brings forth a development of a cure so simple that could positively impact the lives of thousands of people.
This is relevant to me because this summer, I am going to be marching with a world class drum and bugle corps in the 2016 DCI World tour. There are 22 different corps within the world class level of DCI. Each corps is composed of 150 percussion, brass, front ensemble, and colorguard members. Basically, it’s a much more intense (both physically and time-wise) and competitive version of college marching band. Physical vitals have been taken of corps members and their heart rate, oxygen intake, physical exertion is equal to or surpasses that of football and soccer players. The DCI season starts the last week of May and ends on August 13th.
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During May and early June, each corps has spring training. I’ll be learning the show that we’ll be performing throughout the summer. Once spring training has finished, tour begins and there are nightly competitions throughout the U.S.. The group that I am going to be marching with this summer will perform 32 shows in just over 50 days. This activity is literally a two and a half month long summer camp- you eat, sleep, train, and travel together every day. We go through 14 hour days consisting of rehearsal and performance and then immediately departing on an overnight coach bus ride to the venue for the next day. I’m going to be spending a huge amount of time in the sun this summer on turf football fields during rehearsal with a majority of my body exposed to it’s rays. I want to make sure that I am as proactive as possible this summer so that I can avoid any injury and or long term side effects of heavy UV exposure.
