I'm a little tired of reading and writing about sunscreen. Maybe it's not the actual reading and writing that has me worn out. Maybe it's the realization that I keep reading and writing about sunscreen yet the information is just not sinking in with the masses of sun-hungry people out there -- according to the EPA, there has been a staggering 1,800 percent increase in malignant melanoma cases since 1930. Recent figures show a shocking rise in skin cancers among those in their 20s and 30s.

The experts at Canyon Ranch are weighing in on sunscreen. So here I go again, with some more about this tiring topic.

• Sunscreen contains unique chemical components which absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. When applied to the skin, the chemical molecules form an invisible, protective layer that repels the penetrating UV rays. It also helps prevent premature aging and pre-cancerous growths.

Slathering on sunscreen protects us from the dangers of the sun. Right?

Nope, say experts who insist protective clothing and hats are the best way to cover up against UV rays, prevent skin cancer, and minimize the aging effects of the sun.

Think about this:

Most of us rely on sunscreen for skin cancer prevention. But one doctor from Zurich who just finished reviewing sun protection strategies around the world says although the predominant mode of sun protection is sunscreen, this method can be abused in attempts to extend time spent in the sun.

I never thought I'd hear this one -- that women whose tonsils were removed during childhood may be at increased risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer. But sure enough, that's what researchers at the University of Buffalo are reporting.

Think about this:

Researchers say the association between tonsillectomies and breast cancer may be related to the loss of protective function when tonsils are removed. Also, tonsils can be markers for infection in childhood. Some infections cause inflammation which can contribute to cancer. When the tonsils are gone, markers are gone.

Other studies have linked tonsillectomies with an increased risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, and breast and prostate cancers. This study, reported at the 100th annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, confirms the breast cancer connection -- but further study is still necessary.

When I told my husband that the use of cannabis is being linked to a five percent increase in lung cancer risk -- that's 15 new cases each year in New Zealand where a study was just conducted -- he seemed to think this risk is comparable to his dying from a grasshopper landing in his eye.

A scientist John is not, but his thoughts on the matter seem to parallel international thinking on the drug which goes something like this: the risk marijuana use has on cancer incidence is so very low it's hardly worthy of much worry.

A California study of more than 1600 people last year found no link between cancer and smoking the drug, despite researchers' prediction they would find some kind of connection.

New Zealand researchers have found a connection, though, and however small it may seem, they say it's significant.

They found the risk of developing lung cancer increased by about eight percent each year for people whose cumulative exposure equated to smoking one joint per day -- about the same as the increase for someone who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day. They also found the younger someone starting smoking cannabis, the greater the risk and that contributing risk factors include smokers' deeper inhalation and the tendency to hold smoke in their lungs.

Cannabis, the most commonly used recreational drug in the world with 161 million users, has been thought to have a protective effect against cancer due to its chemical THC, which appears to kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous. This study may prove otherwise.

Once upon a time there were two groups of mice, all genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer. Each group was fed the same amount of calories. One group of mice lived in cages warmed to 80.6 degrees. The other group lived in cages kept at 71.6 degrees. The mice in the cooler quarters burned more calories to keep warm. And after three weeks, they weighed less than the toasty warm mice. They were also less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Then there were two other groups of mice, also genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer. Both groups were kept in cages with temperatures 80.6 degrees and 71.6 degrees -- like above. But these mice got to eat whatever their little hearts desired. The mice in cooler cages ate 30 percent more than the mice in warmer cages. They got just as fat as the warm mice. And they all got prostate cancer at the same rate, despite the extra calories.

The moral of the story is this -- being lean rather than obese has a greater protective effect against cancer. Excess calorie retention, rather than consumption, raises cancer risk. This moral stands in contrast to what most researchers believe -- that a restricted diet cuts the risk of and slows the growth of cancer and this is directly related to calorie intake.

Tim Nagy, Ph.D. and professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and lead researcher on the mice story says when you eat more calories than you burn, you store the extra calories as fat. It's the fat cells -- not the extra calories themselves -- that affect cancer risk.

It's not a good idea for humans to chill themselves to avoid cancer, Nagy says. But perhaps people could get the same effect by exercising more since that, too, burns calories.

Nagy's study appears in the January 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

Red wine consumption is associated with a reduced risk of various forms of cancer--leukemia, breast and prostate, in animal studies and in real life. A new study found that drinking more than three glasses of red wine a week reduced the incidence of abnormal growths and cancers of the intestinal tract by two-thirds.

Red wine has something that white wine does not have. A compound found under the skin of the grape called resveratrol. Resveratrol content is higher in red wine than white wine because the grape skins are removed early in the fermentation process for white wines. Resveratrol interferes with all three stages of cancer formation--initiation, promotion and progression.

Dr. Joseph C. Anderson, an assistant professor of medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, says "I generally advise against drinking, but if your going to drink, drink red wine". Anderson's study included 1,741 people. The incidence of colorectal neoplasia, cancers and polyps that can become cancerous, was 9.9 percent in those that abstained from alcohol, 8.8 percent in those who drank three glasses or more of white wine a week and 3.4 percent in those that drank three glasses of red wine a week, a 68 percent reduction.

Whatever the cause of the protective effect, Anderson said he advises people against taking up the wine habit for health reasons.

If you don't think staying out in the sun for long periods of time puts you at greater risk for skin cancer -- or that a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen are all you need to be safe from the damaging rays of the sun -- you might be interested in what MoleMap, a melanoma surveillance program in Australia, discovered during a study of New Zealand farmers and skin cancer rates. I was surprised -- and not in a good way -- by the results of the study.

According to the study, these farmers take sun safety very seriously and observe most of the advised sun safety practices of wearing wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, protective clothing and sunscreen. Yet, with all those preventive measures, half of the New Zealand farmers, or close family members, have been diagnosed with skin cancer. The unavoidable truth is that the work they do requires them to be out in the sun for as long as eight hours a day.

MoleMap general manager Gavin Foulsham is quoted as saying, "We are getting absolutely hammered with ultraviolet rays from the hole in the ozone layer, and our skies are very clean, so we don't get the protective benefits of pollution either, which ironically caused the hole in the first place." The farmers are being asked to pay close attention to any changes to the skin that could indicate skin cancer and to get it checked right away. For all of us who are not required to work outdoors, this is a cautionary tale of why it is essential to take sun safety seriously and to stay out of the sun for long periods of time.