How to Avoid Skin Cancers
Tips for Protecting Your Body from the Sun's Harmful Rays
Although sunbathing is a popular summertime activity, if you overdo it, you can place your health in danger of contracting skin cancers.
If you live in areas where the sun’s rays are the strongest and spend a lot of time outdoors, especially in the summer, then you need to be even more cautious of sunbathing risks.
Skin Cancers
The most common form of human cancer is skin cancer. The disease continues to grow each year, with more than a million new cases annually. According to the American Cancer Society, about 40% to 50% of Americans 65 and older, will come down with skin cancer at least once.
Signs of Skin Cancers
The most common red flag is your skin’s appearance. For example, note any new growths or sores that won’t heal.
Types of Skin Cancers
- Basal cell carcinoma – The least dangerous, this cancer is diagnosed in about 90% of all skin cancers.
- Squamous cell carcinoma – Surgery or radiation treatment is often recommended.
- Melanoma – The most dangerous form of skin cancer, melanoma can even be fatal.
Causes of Melanoma
Melanocytes are normal skin cells which produce a pigment called melanin, giving color to skin. It also serves as a sunscreen guarding against ultraviolet radiation. Because fair-skinned people have less melanin, they’re more at risk from excessive sun exposure than people with darker pigmented skin. Caucasians are about 10 times more likely to develop melanoma than non-Caucasians.
- Over exposure to the sun - Most people develop melanoma because of an over exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This harms the DNA of melanocytes and if genetic damage occurs, proper growth and cell division are hindered. Although the cells don’t die, they continue to grow and spread and can even become cancerous, resulting in melanoma.
- Genetic history – Genetics also is a factor in developing melanoma.
Identifying Melanoma
If you’re at all susceptible to melanoma because of fair skin, genetics, or frequent sun exposure, it’s important to examine your skin regularly. Immediately seek medical attention when you suspect a skin mole may be melanoma. A few signs from the appearance of a suspected mole on your skin may include…
- Irregular forms- The halves of the mole (or lesion) don’t match
- Irregular color
- Blurred, ragged borders
- Diameter more than 6 mm wide
Benign Lesions and Moles
Although you may have a mole that fits the description of melanoma, it could be non-cancerous (benign). However, you still need to get it checked out to be safe. By doing a skin biopsy, your doctor can determine if a mole is cancerous or benign.
How to Protect Your Skin While Sunbathing
- Sunscreens – Use sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) or 15 or more.
- Sunbathing clothing – Choose bathing suits with a special weave that helps block ultraviolet radiation.
- Limit sunbathing – Don’t stay out in the sun long. As soon as you feel you’re starting to burn, get out. If you want to be 100% safe, just don’t sunbathe.
- Nutritional supplements – Some studies advise higher levels of vitamin D, as this vitamin offers more of a safeguard against cancer in general. However, you still have to stay out of the sun as over-sunbathing can decrease vitamin D levels. Foods rich in vitamin D include salmon and cod liver oil.
Finally, realize you can become sunburned even on a cloudy day. In fact, you can get some of your worse sunburns when it’s cloudy. Although there are clouds in the sky, that doesn’t stop UV rays from piercing down to the ground.
