I should disclose up front that I am a melanoma survivor, so my thoughts on this topic are personally skewed. Rosie O’Donnell is under fire today after an interview with Rachel Ray in which she defended tanning by saying that exposure to the sun isn’t dangerous. Her remarks prompted the Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation to issue a statement that Rosie is both “ill-informed” and “irresponsible.” Ouch! That hurts almost as much as a sunburn.
We would expect this from the likes of a younger, ditsier bikini babe, but Rosie O’Donnell?!
The pot-stirring talker told Rachael Ray earlier this month that she “lives to tan” and declared “exposure to the sun isn’t dangerous.”
While we’re all about getting a little vitamin D every once in awhile, most children younger than hers can explain the flaws in this outlook.
Of course, skin cancer groups are outraged, especially the Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation, which told the New York Post that Rosie’s comments are “ill-informed” and “irresponsible.” Duh! The group is hoping she’ll use her powers for good and do a public service announcement clearing the air.
We always knew she was a hothead, but who knew the great ball of fire in the sky was the cause?
Hmm. When did Rosie find time to go to medical school? That Rosie – such a fountain of wisdom! However, I hope she won’t be offended if I listen instead to my dermatologist and the very knowledgeable group of doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital who saved my life. They told me that repeated, prolonged sun exposure was indeed the cause of the melanoma I had. These days, I don’t leave the house without sunscreen and my “sun worshiping” days have been over for about 15 years. Oh, and Rosie, I hope you don’t mind that I’d rather believe the National Cancer Society’s research, which reveals that melanoma is the most aggressive and widespread form of cancer, topping breast cancer and lung cancer, and that there were more than 68,000 new cases in the U.S. this year and more than 8,600 deaths from the disease. I’m sure you’re an expert in many other things, Rosie, but I’m going to have to call B.S. on this one. I’ve got the scars to prove you wrong. And one more thing: you can get all the Vitamin D your body needs from these really cool things called vitamins.
It’s a shame she doesn’t worry about something that may impact her children later on. Her love for the sun may cause her children to be without one of their parents down the road.
No jokes here…I thought that she had some sort of skin condition when I saw those pictures…either that or she had done a really bad job with the fake tan…
Having lived in Australia and now New Zealand Rosie would change her tune quick-smart if she saw the damage sun does to people’s skin in this area of the world. To say nothing of how common skin cancer is and how many of my friends and neighbours routinely have bits dug out of them…
One thing I forgot to add: World Health Organization study on tanning beds and melanoma: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20090728/who-tanning-beds-cause-cancer
There is NO such thing as a “safe tanning bed.”
Melanoma of the EYES, people!
Look at her ruined face. So who has the last laugh here?
And though I love the sun and had have quite a few sunburns (the last one was recently 4 months ago) the moment my fair skin starts to look like that, you can be sure my sunning days are over.
I wish she would’ve phrased it that she doesn’t think it’s dangerous for her, but that everyone else should use sunscreen. Then there wouldn’t be so much outrage. She’s entitled to her ignorant opinion, but yes, it would be good if she now gave a statement similar to what you’ve written above about skin cancer, since people are talking about it.
I personally think that some people are more susceptible to skin cancer than others, and that for some, getting un-sunscreened sun daily isn’t bad. I’m not talking about the baking for 10 hours, but some sun is okay for some people, imo. My mother baked every day as a teen and young adult and never had any problems. My dad didn’t consciously tan, that I know of, and he has had skin cancer twice. They both could get tan, and they were of different races, dad being caucasian and mom being caucasian and Native American.
Also, I understand that doctors go to school for a very long time and learn a lot of things, but I totally don’t agree that the only people in this world who can have a biological opinion are doctors. I have been to plenty of doctors who not only gave me incorrect information, they harmed me with their incorrent information and treatments. The last dermatologist I went to for a mole check didn’t have me disrobe completely! How can one do a full-body mole check without seeing the entire body?
Even my mother’s oncologist almost let her die of chemo-induced anorexia, until we researched and found a way to get her to eat, with Megase, a liquid type of chemo that stimulates the appetite and is used in AIDS patients. Personally, I’ll be listening to the National Cancer Society or other sources, rather than my local general practitioner, or Rosie.
@MSat – you have convinced me. No more occasional tanning bed use for seasonal affective disorder.
She’ll change her tune when she’s diagnosed.
Or maybe she was diagnosed and she’s in denial.
Ok, I get free will…if she’d said I love tanning enough that I’ll take the risk…but not dangerous?! I never thought she was stupid before, but now…
So sad. I just really hope she won’t have to eat those words some day.
You know what irks me? People like Rosie O’Donnell irk me! I’m not sure if she is truly ignorant or if she’s deliberately trying to stir up some controversy and garner attention like the attention whore that she is.
Knowing sufferers and survivors of skin cancer, I can only hope that she is ignorant and takes the time to educate herself about the dangers of sun exposure.
The thing that pisses me off is that if she does get skin cancer, she’ll write a book and be the first person pimping herself out of Larry King a few years from now with a ‘woe is me: cautionary tale’ story about how she battled skin cancer.
This woman really irks me.
MSat I am wishing you many many years of health and happiness.
My Aunt passes away from Melanoma.
Don’t worry, Melanoma Foundation. No one is looking to Rosie O’Donnell for medical advice.
You know why she likes tanning beds? You can take a stiff drink in there with you and have 20 minutes of privacy to get a good buzz going.
no wonder rosie’s face looks like an old catcher’s mitt.
The only safe tan is a fake one. And fake does not include tanning beds, as they tan you through UV. I stopped trying to tan a few years ago, when I was about 18. Sure, buying sprays and creams are more expensive than lying in the sun, but in the long term, it’s much cheaper than getting treated for cancer. And you don’t have to really make a conscious effort to get your daily vitamin D intake-according to the Aussie Cancer Council, just doing your normal routine-like putting the washing out, driving etc-will get that for you.
Ummm, hatsumomo, by the time you start looking like Rosie the damage is already done. A couple of good burns in a lifetime can cause melanoma, not by the time you start getting leathery and freckled. And the cumulative effect of repeated burning starts to show up in later years. My Canadian mother was born and raised in a tropical climate and by the time she hit her late fifties she had multiple skin cancers. Please stop over-tanning now before it’s too late.
You do need some sun for Vitamin D to be effective. Not the equivalent of lying out and tanning but a few minutes a day. It can help with depression too.
So sad that someone so ignorant has a public forum in which to disseminate such misinformation. Really, really bad.
It’s a good thing that we had sunblock for the millions of years before recorded history… wait… maybe we just stayed out of the sun….. wait…
Could it be that some of the thousands of toxins that we put in our bodies day after day through food and our many household products might be reacting in tandem with the sun ?
To Rosie: “Nah,nah,nah I can’t hear you.”
@The Judge, I’m sorry, but do you happen to have the cause of death for early humans? How can you say for sure that some of them didn’t die of skin cancer? Plus, when the average lifespan is about 30 years, maybe they simply weren’t alive long enough for their melanomas to kill them. Not to mention the fact that we’re currently doing a pretty good job of destroying one of the natural blockers of UV rays, the ozone layer.
She is right, lack of exposure to the sun is what is dangerous. Put a plant in a dark room forever and watch it thrive!!! How come the Africans,Brazillians,Indonesians with no sun screen etc don’t have high melanoma rates, like the West?
Because they don’t put poisonous sunscreens on their skin. Every white human being needs 20 minutes of direct sunlight to 40% of their body everyday,darker skinned people need more, just to maintain health. Baking for hours is asking for trouble, being sensible, is looking after you own well being. When summer hits, my kids get exposed 5 mins the 1st day, 10 mins the next and we build it up. They have never been burned and they have beautiful skin, just like myself and my husband, my parents, grandparents and 2 great grandma’s. The Tai Chi followers stare and blink to the left of the sun for 10 seconds, to the right for 10, above and below, to build up strength in the eyes, which we need for eye strength and health. We cover up, wear sunglasses and have NEVER been so unhealthy. This leads to osteo/bone diseases, arthritis, MS etc, these are all preventable diseases and are created through lack of sun. A lot of the advice given by the Doctors and big pharma, is to keep you sick, patient, pill popper for life, means profit. No one in my family, 5 generations takes a pill, like cholesterol, high blood pressure, nothing. Only my mother is on thyroid tablets, but that’s it. This is rare! We are doing something right I’d say. You do not get ANY vitamin D through a window, it has to be direct contact. Keep listening to the Cancer Councils, they have NEVER been so busy. 100 years ago, people died of old age and Cancer was a rarity. Today 1 in 2 will have Cancer. Technology has zoomed ahead, yet we are getting more and more behind with general health. Autism has gone up 2,700% since 1985, everybody needs a pill to be happy, something is going astray people. Wake up!
@Emily
Cancer is a disease of western civilization, a disease of luxury like it’s friend diabetes. We knocked out most of the things that used to kill us, but our “better living through chemistry” mentality has brought in a crop of new ones.
In 1971, Nixon declared war on cancer and things have only gotten worse. Many more people have died and we are no closer to having a cure or knowing what is really going on. Mustard gas (chemo) seems to be the most popular treatment, and history will place that in a category with leeching and electro-shock therapy.
The lifespan of 30 years you mention is another wonderful bit of false conventional wisdom. Many, many, many more babies used to die, adding many, many zeroes to be averaged in. The average life span today is roughly 70 years and always has been…
Unfortunately though, you may be absolutely right about the ozone layer. Our “technology” and “progress” might very well have made it dangerous to simply be out in the open air. It’s getting tougher and tougher to believe that we are the apex of creation.
Having said all that, Rosie has obviously spent too much time in the sun and looks like an old catcher’s mitt. (Hey, I’m only a person…)
Sure, that’s why they’re carving my mom out a piece at at time. No melanoma yet, but numerous squamous and basal cell carcinomas. She’s starting radiation therapy for her nose next week, once a day, five days a week for six weeks. I’m 45 and I’ve had one squamous cell taken off my arm (at 36), another off the back of my neck and a number of precancerous cells scraped off my nose. I have another dermatology appointment tomorrow as I haven’t been checked in two years and my mom’s situation kind of freaked me out. Looking like Rosie is the LEAST of your concerns. The sun can kill you…
One more thing, and please forgive me…
With economic incentives getting in the way of true knowledge, there is just so much bad information out there. I think this will be my last internet comment, which strangely lifts a weight off my back. I am starting to think that you can only cut through so much misinformation in person and one on one.
This comment is in reference to getting your vitamin D from “vitamins” instead of the sun (or food).
Years ago, I talked at length with a door to door vitamin salesman. He admitted openly that they had no idea if the vitamins worked at all or if you just peed them out. The debate rages to this day (with supplement companies on one side obviously), yet the conventional wisdom is that they work. Sweet, sweet profit oriented science.
In closing, as Americans, we don’t really read; yet we are awfully loud with our opinions – waving our #1 fingers around. Maybe we should look away from our multitudes of glowing rectangles for a second and try to take to long view.
Thank you internet and good night ! Please be good to yourselves. (As if the internet doesn’t read like millions of 12 year olds taking their frustrations out on each other.)
I’d just like to know if she’s aware of the danger she can cause saying such stupid, ignorant words.
Sometimes some people shoud just shut the f. up. And some other people should just switch off the mic they put in front of the mouth of people like Rosie O’Donnell.
After growing up in Florida in the 60’s I developed skin cancer in my 50s. It is no fun having them surgically remove half of your nose. In those days we had no idea what damage the sun could do and of course everyone “lived to tan”. It is enjoyable soaking up the rays, but I wish I knew then what I know now. Sunscreen is your friend.
Well, thanks for the advice Jaded, but I don’t actively tan. I live in South Texas, and just love being outdoors. Running at the local park, being there with my man, BBQing outside, and taking my vacays at Port A. I just burn by accident.
Rosie has an admitted mental illness that she said she treats with “exercise” for bipolar disorder which cannot be controlled without medication. She is also an admitted alcoholic. With that in mind why is anyone taking what she has to say seriously? She is a very sick woman who suffers from both mental illness and alcoholism and doesn’t get treatment and is obviously getting worse. Her red nose is and her skin tone is an obvious symptom of severe alcholism. I really don’t believe that anyone would pay attention to this lunatic.
@MSat – what was your level of Melanoma? Hopefully it was a 1 or 2. (I work in a derm office, so I know about these things.) Does Rosie even realize you can get malignant melanoma is the back of the eye or in the mouth? I actually know someone who lost an eye to melanoma. Luckily basal and squamous cell carcinomas are more common and usually not fatal. They are more of a cosmetic problem, they usually don’t metasitize to the inner organs like melanoma can, but you still want to get them removed.
For those of you dispensing ‘free’ unsolicited advice as to how we are all being fooled by institutions like the Cancer Society into ‘poisoning’ ourselves with sunscreen please bugger off now…
the reason people whose ancestors comes from northern climates have lighter skin is because of the lack of sunlight and lighter skin was a way to get more vitamin D into the body. this is also why people who’s skin is lighter have less chance of being lactose intolerate (NOT ALL PLEASE DON’T JUMP DOWN MY THROAT) b/c that was another way to get vitamin d, cows, sheep, goats, etc milk.
our bodies find ways to keep us alive and get us the nutrients we need. however, unlike the old days, we humans move around a lot. so things like skin cancer would be more common. my ancestors are from sweden, so when i end up in SoCal i have to watch it b/c my body is not biologically designed to live in that environment, but i can feast on cheese. that’s just my 2cents though
@The Judge, uh, electro shock therapy is actually helpful to people with certain mental conditions. It’s not like how it’s portrayed in the movies, though, which is what I think you’re thinking about.
@You go girl: Africans, Brazilians and Indonesians have naturally higher levels of melanin in their skin, which helps protect them from the sun. As to the West, Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, because we’re under the hole in the ozone, and like much of the West, we see a suntan as a desirable thing, and thus spend hours sunbaking, or using tanning beds.
Here is a link to an interview on Fresh Air with a dermatologist providing advice on skin cancer. He said there was a big increase in melanoma cases mostly among young women due to use of tanning beds:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105867717
@Dr. M
Thank you for proving my point knucklehead…
I recently had a scare where I found a mole on the back of my neck that had to be removed. I don’t sun bake or use a tanning bed and don’t even remember ever being sunburnt on the back of my neck. After a long wait for test results, turns out it wasn’t cancer, but I was worried sick. Tanning beds are basically human sandwich grills and they creep me out. I guess what I want to say is for everyone to please be careful and look after your skin and body. Don’t sit in the dark like a mushroom but be careful in the sun!
Rosie in a nutshell:
Take equal parts ignorance and rage. Mix well.
~
I have an interest in herbal medicine. I take various herbs for different reasons, usually as a tonic.
I was taking an Indian herb, from their system known as Ayurveda. It actually made my skin tan from the inside out, people asked me if I had been south.
Spray on tans? Wouldn’t you be absorbing even a little bit of whatever gunk and dye are in it?
Think of the lymph nodes.
Who really cares what Rosie has to say anyway? I can’t think of one person I know who cares let alone listens and takes as fact anything that comes out of her mouth.
Like I said baking yourself on purpose, is stupid in any case. Spray on tans, I would not put those chemicals on my skin for anything.
The Judge great post!
Need more people like you and less sheeple!
@ the Judge: who the f are you to say Americans don’t read?? Sounds like a stereotype to me.
And yeah, I agree that fake tanning is bad. I remember hearing that you should never put onto your skin what you wouldn’t swallow, since it’s basically the same thing in terms of absorption. That might be an exaggeration but it’s a good rule anyway.
Rosie’s next pronouncement: “I live to eat! Being 300lbs overweight is not at all hazardous to your health!”
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