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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know During the ceremony, Mayor Shaw presented an official proclamation to Surinder K. Zutshi, recognizing India’s Independence Day and its significance to the local Indian-American community. Zutshi accepted the proclamation on behalf of the Indian-American commu- nity and Kashmir NRI Today. Among the guests at the ceremony were ISG Raymond L. Carmona, former president of the Poinciana Townhomes Association, and his wife, Denise Car- mona. In his remarks, Zutshi expressed his sincere gratitude to Mayor Shaw, the Greenacres City Council, and Austin Lee, Director of Communications and Govern- mental Affairs, for making the recognition possible. “It is a great honor to accept this India’s Independence Day Proclamation on be- half of the Indian-American community and Kashmir NRI Today,” Zutshi said. “India and the United States are two great democracies united by the shared values of freedom, democracy, diversity, and opportunity,” Zutshi added, empha- sizing, “May we continue building bridges of peace, understanding, and opportunity for generations to come.” Zutshi also praised Mayor Shaw’s longstanding commitment to education, young people, public service, and the Greenacres community. The successful commemoration con- cluded with a message of patriotism and unity: Jai Hind! God Bless America!, the press release said. PHOTOS:COURTESY ORGANIZERS The Proclamation City Of Greenacres, FL, Honors India’s Independence Day With Official Proclamation I’m A Doctor. Here’s Why I Wear Sunblock Indoors I s it true we’re supposed to wear sunscreen indoors even if we’re not going to be out in the sun? Yes, you should. I know that feels counterintuitive, but let’s start by pondering this question: Why do people in the United States tend to get more skin cancers on their left side, while people in Australia appear to get more sun damage on the right? The answer is UVA exposure while driving. As a brief reminder, visible light is the only light the human eye can see, as opposed to the shorter ultraviolet (UV) waves, which we can’t see. Standard window glass blocks most UVB – the rays that cause sunburn – but does little to stop visible light or UVA, which are known to ac- celerate skin aging. The clearest evidence for this comes from a 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, in which researchers analyzed more than 82,000 melanoma cases and roughly 2,400 Merkel cell carcinoma cases in the United States. Both cancers were slightly more common on the left side. In Australia, where drivers sit on the right side, older studies have found sun- damaged precancerous patches more commonly on the right. Experimental data on the glass used in luxury cars in 2003 found that a left-sided driver next to a closed car window receives five to six times more UV radiation on their left arm than the right. “Unless you’re in a box – in a box with no windows – you should still be wearing sunscreen on a daily basis,” said Temitayo Ogunleye, a professor of clinical dermatol- ogy at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. “You’re still getting a decent amount of cumu- lative UVA exposure.” So, yes, I do wear sunscreen every day despite working indoors. I commute at least 45 minutes to my office each way. I also face a nice large window behind my computer screen when I’m there. So even though I don’t actually step foot outside most of the day (tragically), my skin is getting UVA rays for much of my indoor time. HOW LIGHT EXPOSURE AFFECTS YOUR SKIN UVA rays can reach beneath our skin’s surface, which is why they play a big role in premature skin aging and wrinkle formation in addition to cancer. It turns out visible light may also impact our skin. “Visible light matters even more for people with melasma, hyperpigmentation, or darker skin tones,” said Charlene Lam, an associate professor of dermatology at Penn State Health. “It triggers pigment-producing cells more aggressively in darker skin types and can worsen dark spots.” An oft-cited 2010 study confirmed these effects: Re- searchers exposed people with various skin tones to both visible light and UVA. The scientists found that among people with darker skin tones, visible light actually produced darker and more persistent pigmentation than UVA did. Among volunteers with lighter skin, the same visible light exposure produced no observable pigmenta- tion at all. 4 TIPS FOR PICKING AN EFFECTIVE SUNSCREEN Look for iron oxide, especially if you’re concerned about hy- perpigmentation or dark spots When you’re shopping for sunscreen, you’ll come across two main types: chemical, such as those contain- ing ingredients like oxybenzone or avobenzone, or min- eral, such as those containing ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Ordinary chemical sunscreen is largely ineffective against visible light. That’s why Lam recommends a mineral sunscreen with iron oxide – the ingredient that a 2015 randomized trial found helps block visible light and reduces recurrence of dark spots. (The study was sup- ported by Laboratoire Bioderma, a skin care company.) Iron oxide is often used as a tint for mineral sun- screens. As someone with a darker skin tone myself, I’m only too familiar with the whitish-gray cast that many mineral sunscreens leave on my skin. So, at least for me, the addition of iron oxide as a tint is a win-win: It can help these sunscreens appear less obvious while also bolstering visible light protection. SPF 30 is better than you may think It feels like there should be a major upgrade when you buy something labeled SPF 50 or even 100. But actually, the difference isn’t particularly striking. “SPF 30 blocks about 97 percent of UVB. SPF 50 blocks about 98 percent,” Lam said. “That 1 percent jump is why I tell patients not to obsess over 30 versus 50.” If that’s news to you – you’re not alone. I didn’t learn this until medical school. Choose a broad-spectrum option “SPF is the relative number of Joules of UV light needed to cause mild sunburn in sun protected skin versus sun unprotected skin,” said Jenna Lester, associate professor of dermatology and director of the Skin of Color Program at the University of California at San Francisco. This means that SPF just tells you about UVB, which causes sunburn – and it tells you nothing about UVA. So presuming you also want UVA protection (as I do), you need to pick a sunscreen that specifically says, “broad spectrum.” This means the sunscreen protects against both UVB and UVA. Go for the bigger bottle SPF numbers are calculated assuming a specific, generous amount of product – about 2 grams per square centimeter of skin in lab testing. “If you’re not using the equivalent amount, you’re not getting the SPF sun pro- tection that’s on the label,” Lester said. For your face, that roughly equates to a thick line of sunscreen along your pointer and middle finger. For your body, that means about the amount in a shot glass. This is why the experts I spoke with agree that the most important sunscreen is whichever one you’ll actu- ally wear routinely – and not be precious with. As a surgeon who helps reconstruct skin affected by cancer, Lam finds the tougher spots to operate on are a few key forgotten areas: “Lips, the tops of ears and the scalp – especially if you’re thinning up top,” she said. WHAT I WANT MY PATIENTS TO KNOW For now, the main light to focus on in terms of skin damage is really from the sun – not, for example, the blue light emitted from our computers and smartphones. Skin damage from these devices is “theoretically possible but still understudied,” Lester said. Overall, my recommendation is to wear sunscreen every day, even if you’re going to be indoors. But you especially should remember to wear it if you’re go- ing outside.“The amount of exposure that you’re getting outdoors is still orders of mag- nitude higher than what you’re getting indoors,” Lester said. Trisha Pasricha is a physician and scientist at Beth Israel Deacon- ess Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong.” -TheWashington Post By Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH PHOTO:THEWASHINGTON POST - Continued From Page 10 Community News India Times (August 8, 2026 - August 14, 2026) August 14, 2026 12 Health