Dark Skin Doesn't Deflect Sun Risks

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- Like most children, Shoko Kiyono of El Cerrito, Calif., spent countless hours of her youth playing under the sun. Kiyono, who grew up in Japan, never wore sunscreen. No one spoke about the sun's harmful rays, though she was encouraged to wear a hat to keep her face "light and pretty," she says. The hat only did so much. Contrary to commonly held myths about skin of color, Kiyono, now 51, deals with sun damage. She burns. She has moles. And she suffers from melasma, hyperpigmentation that is exacerbated by sun exposure; and solar lentigines, or splotchy freckles, caused by the sun. As summer nears, it is imperative that those with skin of color relinquish the idea that they are immune to sun damage, wearing suns...