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CNN Live Today

How Do You Enjoy Summer Glow Without Incurring the Ravages?

Aired May 27, 2002 - 10:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Memorial Day of course ushers in summer, and what does that mean? The season of the sun. So how do you enjoy that summer glow without incurring the ravages?

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now live with a closer look at sunscreens.

Elizabeth, do you get to lie in the sun as part of your research for this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. I get to take a nap, having just heard Bill's package. I'm sleeping after this.

But before I fall asleep, let me tell you what I'm seeing out here this morning. We're here at a swim club in Decatur, Georgia, and I've been watching; people indeed are putting on the sunscreen. I think they've sort of heard the message. It's not like it was a couple of decades ago, where nobody listened. I think they know.

However, there are a couple of things that you need to know in order to do sunscreen right, so Let's go over those pointers. First of all, you need to use an SPS of at least 15, and you need to do it every day. The everyday part is important, because we get 80 percent of our lifelong sun exposure just from everyday things, not from a day out in the sun, just from walking around, getting in the car.

Use suncreen, even in the shade. That's because sun reflects off of sand or water or other surfaces and will get on you, even if you don't feel it. Don't forget your ears, your scalp and your lips. A lot of people forget those, and end up with a bad burn.

Now speaking of scalp, I thought to myself, gosh, how in the world could you get sunscreen on your scalp. I saw this product in the store, you spray it, and that will be one way of doing it. Here's a couple of other tricks. You want to look for something that blocks out UVA and UVB. That's very important, because those are two different ways that you can get a burn.

Also on this one here,you see its says zinc. This is invisible zinc. Zinc is that white stuff you sometimes see on people's noses, but this is invisible, so it has all the benefits without seeing it.

Here's what you don't want to protect yourself. This is Tanning oil. Remember in the '70s, we put in on in order to look brown. That's not what you want, because you will be actually pretty red. It doesn't guard anything. So the message here is, use sunscreen, it protects against skin cancer, and even if you're not particularly worried about cancer, it protects against wrinkles as well. So sunscreen now or Botox later -- Kris.

OSBORN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. And important message from a sunny poolside. Appreciate it.

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