Florida's number three industry, behind tourism and skin cancer, is voter fraud.
- Dave Barry
People love quick fixes. This seems to be especially true in the US. I guarantee that at least 80% of my patients would choose an expensive pill (within their means) over a free change of habit every time. No criticism implied there. Self-management is hard. But this tendency leaves medical folks in a tough spot.
The interaction of oncology and psychology will always keep us on our toes. Many people are terrified of cancer but still choose not to do the things that definitely help prevent it, like stopping smoking and wearing sunscreen. Sometimes there are economic or social factors that make good self-care impossible, but there are many people with great access and funding who just choose not to save their own lives.
It is some wonder, then, that commercial sunscreen took off early in this country. This came to mind as we were driving through Ormond Beach the other day and passed the huge, expensive beach house that belongs to Ron Rice of Hawaiian Tropic fame.
People have used compounds like zincoxide on their skin for thousands of years, but it wasn't until the mid-1900s that Mr Rice and Mr
