The Infuriating Reason People With Dark Skin Are At A Greater Risk For Skin Cancer

[three_fourth padding=”0 0px 0 0px”]The Infuriating Reason People With Dark Skin Are At A Greater Risk For Skin Cancer
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Perhaps the most common skin-care myth in the Black community is that, because we have more melanin than those with lighter skin, we’re somehow impervious to the sun’s harmful rays. Guess what? This couldn’t be further from the truth.

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BY   Taylor Bryant  |  PUBLICATION   Refinery29 

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[dropcap]In[/dropcap] fact, a recent study shows that Black people might be at higher risk for skin cancer — not for lack of SPF application, but because doctors aren’t properly trained to spot the signs on darker skin. What?! Yeah, that’s what we thought, too.

The study, published this week by STAT News, found that Black Americans are four times more likely than white Americans to be diagnosed with melanoma after their cancer has already spread. According to research from the Society for Investigative Dermatology, 50% of dermatologists reported that their medical schools failed to prepare them to diagnose cancer on Black skin. What’s more, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reports that only 1 in 10 residencies include a rotation that focuses on treating patients of color.
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