Is the Sun Really Responsible for Skin Cancer?

I remember about 20 years ago, all the commercials were praising Coppertone for helping to get sun tan. Now we have gone in another extreme: sun all of a sudden has become an enemy and we all need protection, otherwise we get skin cancer. People are spending billions on buying sun blockers. Let us see, what is the evidence that sun causes skin cancer. As usual, there are some statistics to support it: Southern states have more cases than Northern, white people more often have skin cancer than blacks.

On the other hand, skin cancer often appears on the parts of body, which are never exposed to sun. Less than 10,000 people die from skin cancer in US each year. To place this in proper perspective, people in United States are 10 times more likely to be killed in a hospital due to a medical error or twice as likely to be shot to death by a gun. People are now spending billions on the so-called sun-blockers, trying to save themselves from something, which does not threaten them at all: out of 300 sun-baders, 299 never get skin cancer.

If the sun was really responsible for skin cancer, should not the number be much greater? Last, but not least: if sun were the cause of skin cancer, introduction of sun-blockers would have significantly reduced the cases of skin cancer. It did not.

Five Kinds of Skin Cancer

Learn self-examination of skin cancer, as a way to protect yourself, that is easy and costs you nothing more than a few minutes of your time once every few months.

It's really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of skin cancer. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to spot, the first signs of skin cancer.

There are five different kinds of skin cancer. All of them are dangerous though some are to be worried about more than others. The most common type of skin cancer is Basal cell carcinoma with over a million Americans developing this cancer each year.

Seventy five percent of all skin cancers treated are of this variety. This type of skin cancer is believed by physicians to be caused by a person spending too much time in the sun. Which is why this type of skin cancers tends to be found ion the more common places on the body that has sun exposure. This includes the face, scalp, and upper torso.

Although they have more than one form basal cell carcinoma often begins like a shiny bump. It takes the form of a sore that does not heal or that heals and then becomes unhealthy looking once again. These are slow growing; rarely spreading to other parts of the body but still must be attended to quickly.

At least two hundred thousand Americans yearly are treated for Squamous cell carcinoma, this is the second most common and accounts for twenty percent of the cases of skin cancer. This one is also blamed on too much sun but is more common among middle aged and the elderly.

They first appear as a crusty spot, but one with that appears reddened and irritated looking and does look very much like a small growth or boil. If you notice something that looks like this go immediately to your health care provider as Squamous cell carcinoma can spread to other parts of your body.

The next in line is the most dangerous of the skin cancers. That one is Melanoma and it affects four percent of those who are treated for skin cancers. It is considered the most dangerous because it is the most lethal.

Although if found early the cure rate is a stunning ninety five percent effective. But once it begins its spread there is very little hope. So if you see changes to a mole or a new mole, especially if you are over thirty, see your health care provider immediately.

The remaining one percent if divided between Paget,s disease and Kaposi,s sarcoma. Paget,s occurs because of cancers in the sweat glands of the intestines, genitals or urinary tract and so the cancer shows up in the genital area or around the anus.

It can also come out around the nipples because of cancer of the milk ducts though both men and women can have this problem. The sores look a like normal patchy skin, rashes, and can be very itchy or even painful. A biopsy is usually needed to determine if its just a skin condition or its Paget,s. Kaposi,s sarcoma is an AIDS related skin cancer related to herpes.

Sunburn: Skin Cancer and Aging of the Skin

The experience of sunburn can be a very efficient (i.e. painful) reminder to heed adequate protection on future occasions. However more importantly, it should be a reminder of the long-term effects of sun exposure on our bodies and health – which can include aging of the skin and skin cancer.

In order to more fully understand these consequences, let’s take a look at exactly what sunburn is, its symptoms and its effect on the body.

Sunburn results when the amount of exposure to the sun, or other ultraviolet light source (e.g. tanning lamps and welding arcs etc.), exceeds the ability of the body's protective pigment, melanin, to protect the skin. Melanin content varies greatly, but in general darker skinned people have more melanin than lighter skinned. (Although fairer skinned people are generally more prone to getting sunburn than darker skinned people, this certainly does not exclude the latter from risk.)

Sunburn destroys cells in the outer layer of the skin, damaging tiny blood vessels underneath. Burns deeper into the skin’s layers also damage elastic fibers in the skin, which over time and with repeated sun overexposure, can result in the appearance of yellowish, wrinkled skin.

The damage to skin cells from UV exposure (either sunlight or tanning lamps etc.) can also include damage to their DNA. It’s this repeated DNA damage, which can lead to a cell becoming cancerous. With the incidence of skin cancer rising dangerously in many parts of the world, and with its ability to develop and establish itself in the body ‘long’ before external signs are detected, -- paying attention to this aspect of sun exposure and sunburn should certainly not be ignored if we are serious about preserving our health.

Now while it may be easier to ignore the effects of sunburn occurring at a cellular level, ignoring the external symptoms of sunburn in the days immediately following such exposure is entirely another matter.

While sunburn is usually not immediately obvious, skin discoloration (ranging from slightly pink to severely red or even purplish) will initially appear from 1 – 24 hours after exposure. Although pain is usually worst 6 – 48 hours afterward, the burn can continue to develop for 24 – 72 hours after the incident. Where there is skin peeling, this generally occurs 3 – 8 days after the burn occurs.

While minor sunburns typically cause nothing more than warm/hot skin, slight redness, and tenderness to the affected area, -- in more serious cases, extreme redness, swelling and blistering can occur. These blisters filled with fluid may itch and eventually break. This can then cause peeling of the skin, exposing an even tenderer layer of skin underneath.

Severe sunburn can cause very red, blistered skin but can also be accompanied by fever, chills, nausea (in some cases vomiting), and dehydration. In instances of extreme sunburn where the pain is debilitating, medical treatment may be required.

While the immediate effects of sunburn can certainly be painful and cause discomfort, the real deterrent to UV overexposure should be the potential damage to your long-term health – including the risk of premature aging of the skin along with skin cancer.

Don’t let sunburn and sun overexposure kill your chances of enjoying youthful skin, and a healthy body. Remember, the easiest way to treat sunburn will always be to avoid it in the first place!

Skin Cancer: Clarifying the Three Types

There are three main types of skin cancers. Melanoma is a skin cancer that starts in moles and can spread rapidly through your body and kill you. Moles that have irregular borders and multiple colors should be removed to be checked for melanoma. Moles that have smooth circular borders and are of one color are almost never melanoma cancers.

The second type of skin cancer is called squamous cell cancer. These can occasionally spread through the body and be fatal.

The third and most common type, basal cell skin cancer, rarely spreads through the body and can be cured just by taking out 100 percent of the lesion. They are called cancers because they keep on growing through everything around them until they are completely removed. Basal cell skin cancers fall apart and feel like marshmallows when they are scraped. All a doctor has to do is to inject an anaesthetic into the lesion, scrape the basal cell cancer until he feels the hard resistance of normal skin. He then burns an area of normal skin around the lesion to guarantee the removal of the entire cancer.

You can suspect that you have a basal cell skin cancer when you develop a red scaly area on the surface of a light-exposed area of skin. That is probably an actinic keratosis that can often be removed just by applying a special cream called imiquimod. However, if you leave the red area in place, it can go deeper and became a skin cancer. You can suspect that the actinic keratosis has gone deeper when the surface feels rough like sandpaper. If you let it grow further, it can become an elevated area with a fine pearly border.

How To Protect Your Skin by Bell Samantha

No one can deny that having a healthy, fair skin is critical to a living a perfectly wonderful life. It frees you from the wrath of symptoms caused by skin diseases.
Skin is perhaps one of the most important parts of your body for it protects you from a host of diseases that may pose a threat to your existence.
It is our body's main line of defense. It guards you from all infections and insulates your body from the ever-fluctuating external environment in order to keep a relatively stable body temperature.
It is the body's main point of contact to the outside world, sending constant information to the brain about pain, heat, texture, cold, etc.
With this in mind, there is no doubt that proper skin care and staying away from skin damaging activities will do yourself and your skin particularly, a big favor.
Skin Cancer
Like most part of our body, the skin is also likely to develop cancer. Cancer is a result of an uncontrolled cell growth in one part of the body.
Unlike normal cells which are programmed to divide, grow, and die at a certain time, cancer cells lack the internal machinery to control growth and as a result cause severe damage to normal cells that will be outnumbered along the process in a certain biological locality.
Technically, the body reacts in many ways to cancer cells but this abnormality causes other diseases to suffer nutritional death. Cancer cells were found to cause the body to produce numerous blood vessel connections along the cancerous portion thereby depriving normal cells with nutrients.
Some cells even detach from their point of origin and travel to other parts of the body to start a new colony of cancer cells.
Skin cancers are either melanoma or non-melanoma cancers. Non-melanomas are cancers which arise from skin cells other than melanocytes cells. Melanomas are cancerous melanocytes cells that produce melanin, a pigment that gives the skin its characteristic color.
UV Rays
The sun is one of the key enemies of the skin. Although sunlight helps the skin synthesize vitamin D (cholecalciferol), excessive and prolonged exposure to the sun causes damage and wrinkling.
How does the sun cause such damage?
Sunlight that passes through earth is composed of visible light and ultraviolet light (UV). UVA and UVB Light are one of the most common ultraviolet lights. UV lights falls outside the visible light spectrum, meaning, the human eye cannot see this type of light and can only be seen using a sophisticated tool which detects different light wavelength across the light spectrum.
The difference between the two UV light lies in their ability to damage skin cells. UVB light doesn't get through the deeper layer of the skin and accounts for visible burns and DNA damage across the top layer of the skin.
UVA light, on the other hand, penetrates through the deeper layer of the skin and activates free radicals (very reactive substances), which cause small damages to the skin. Cumulative damage accounts for the skin's premature aging.
Bell Samantha writes for http://www.cheapwrinklecreams.info where you can find out more about wrinkle creams and other topics.