And after vaccines, sunscreens

When he was young, the beginning of sunny weather was marked by advertising that warned him that It's already spring at El Corte Inglés. The inevitable degradation means that now the first bout of heatwave sweat is announced by the wave of social media messages recommending forgoing sunscreen because the sun loves you so much, and, after all, what harm could possibly come from exposing yourself to its primordial embrace for hours? Depending on the conspiracy in question, the evil UVA protection prevents the synthesis of essential vitamin D, which, according to some enlightened individuals—not necessarily those influenced by the sun—is sufficient to prevent autoimmune diseases. It's even been claimed that sunscreen promotes the risk of melanoma, contrary to the opinion of all dermatologists and oncologists.

Much of this noise is based on a serious scientific study, but one that has been interpreted in a biased way (and with a disputed methodology). Those who criticized this publication point to a plausible hypothesis: if those who use sunscreen develop more melanomas than those who don't, it's for the simple reason that the latter mostly abstain from continuous sun exposure. Furthermore, the study didn't evaluate whether the sunscreen users had used it correctly and frequently or simply trusted that the potion would protect them throughout the sweltering day. It would be like saying that motorcycle helmets are harmful because among people who don't wear helmets (because they don't own a motorcycle), the incidence of two-wheeled accidents is lower, or because some fools trust so much in the protection of a helmet that they go 180 kilometers per hour on the highway. Skepticism is like sunbathing: healthy in adequate doses, until it ceases to be so in excess, and one ends up with skin, or brains, like a shrimp.