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CNN Live Today

CNN Gives Tips for Not Getting Sunburned

Aired July 01, 2002 - 08:41   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. The summer sun beating down, that could be pretty dangerous. Most of us use sunscreen, or just cover up, to protect against the harmful effects from the sun. But for some people, that may not go far enough.

And Dr. Sanjay Gupta comes to us from CNN Center with the word on some of the risks we all face if we get too much sun.

How are you doing -- Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm doing well. Ohio to you, Paula. Welcome back.

ZAHN: Thank you.

GUPTA: And thanks for not putting me after the pin-up boys.

ZAHN: You guys are all so intimidated by this. But we need to make clear, even though we've all been -- some of us -- have been salivating over the pictures, that all of the money raised from that calendar will go to fire safety awareness programs, much needed here in New York City.

GUPTA: A worthy cause. Absolutely.

Hey, listen. Photosensitivity -- it's something that we're -- a lot of people are thinking about, certainly here in the summer. A lot of people are getting out in the sun. It's amazing how many things can actually cause these photosensitive reactions in your skin: Certain medications, cosmetics can cause this, other types of -- even suntan lotion itself can cause photosensitive reactions.

What we're talking about here is sort of an alarming reaction that occurs on the skin within a very short period of time -- even 20 seconds, some experts say, a photosensitive reaction can occur.

What is it? It's a very bad sunburn essentially that can also create a rash. It can create sun blisters on your skin. It can create erythema, which is just a very reddening of the skin, and all sorts of different reactions. Basically, what happens is the sun -- all the UV radiation -- actually combines with all the chemicals in your skin and produces this sort of effect.

And another thing, I had a patient once who actually suntanned very easily, always got a very nice dark suntan. And then he started taking a particular medication. He went out in the sun and quickly started developing burns. So it can result from any new medications that people are taking as well.

ZAHN: I know every time you get an antibiotic, it's pretty clear in pretty big letters that this may cause photosensitivity. Other than antibiotics, are there any other specific kinds of medication that will increase photosensitivity?

GUPTA: Yes, there's literally hundreds of medications, and the number's actually growing as new medications come out. Antibiotics, as you mentioned, one of the bigger ones, antihistamines. Motrin. Just an anti-inflammatory can cause this sort of thing. High blood pressure medications, anti-depressants -- you can read the whole list there, Paula. But certainly, antibiotics, as you mentioned, is of the biggest culprits.

Also, as a doctor sometimes, if someone is going to be going on vacation and needs to take an antibiotic, if you tell your doctor, Listen, I'm going to be at the beach, I'm also going to be on this antibiotic, they may prescribe a different sort of antibiotic, one that doesn't have as much sensitivity to the sun as, let's say, a tetracycline, which is one of the most common culprits. So don't stop taking the medication.

There are also other things that can also cause these sorts of reactions to the sun. St. John's Wort, something you can actually buy over-the-counter, can cause reactions to the sun. As we mentioned earlier, cosmetics, artificial sweeteners can do that, deodorants, as well as perfumes with some oils -- these can all cause these sort of pretty profound blisters. If you see them, they're pretty ugly to look at, and they can, like I said, occur pretty quickly.

ZAHN: So you say you don't have to stop taking these drugs. But what do have you to do to avoid getting these in some cases alarming reactions?

GUPTA: You know, first of all, if you're going to go on a new medication, certainly, talk to your doctor about whether that has some sun sensitivity precautions. All the same messages, though, Paula, we've been talking about so long, about just being in the sun period -- certainly, if you're on medications, avoid prolonged exposure; avoid 10:00 to 3:00 -- that's the time -- avoid that time; wear a sun block, hat, other protective clothing -- and you can avoid significant chemical reactions in your skin with the medications and with that UV radiation if you do that.

ZAHN: Got 10 seconds left. If you get sick from it, you can get other stuff to mask the problem, right?

GUPTA: Yes. These are burns. You've got to treat them like burns. You actually sometimes have to put actual antibiotic ointments on the skin, cool packs, things like that. See your doctor about it. These can be pretty bad burns, but they can be treated. The real key, though, even better than treatment, is prevention. And with some of those tips, hopefully, that can be done as well. ZAHN: Thanks for the warnings.

Sanjay, you need not be intimidated by the New York firefighters calendar. We're going to create for 2003 our own doctors calendar. We're nominating you.

GUPTA: All right, all right. OK. I'll look forward to that.

ZAHN: All right, thank you. We'll all be careful in the sun because of you.

Appreciate it, Sanjay.

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