Posted on 04/18/2006 4:17:39 PM PDT by tbird5
There is an unrecognized epidemic of skin cancer underway in the United States, the American Academy of Dermatology warns.
One in five Americans will develop skin cancer, and a person's risk of the disease doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns, according to a report in the April issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
Basal and squamous cell carcinomas, the most common and treatable types of skin cancers, had long been considered a problem only for people over 50, according to the report. But Mayo Clinic researchers found that the percentage of women under 40 with the more common type, basal cell, tripled between 1976 and 2003, while the rate of squamous cell cancers increased four-fold
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
I'm getting sloppy in my old age. Re post #14, that should be "WRINKLES." My goodness.
Yup who hasn't had five or more sunburs by 15 even if you never tried to get a tan ?
Twould seem the whole nation has a double risk. ???
Because since I went back to using baby oil/iodine drops - 20 years ago! - I have had not one incidence...but I do have osteoporosis ( too long winters!) and need the vit. D - and the pick-me-up the sun gives me.
man I'm so pale I'm nearly transparent....
I've gotten sunburns in winter in Pennsylvania....
do a GOOGLE on paba banned sun screens
there are a myriad of articles - it'll scare the begeebers out of you. I've been around long enough to remember that pre-sun screens, there were not nearly the number of skin cancers - shouldn't it be the other way around if they're really preventative? Some are more up to date than our local doctors
I've also learned that we need to do our own research - we are fortunate to have the Internet. There are many reliable studies from the Mayo Clinic and other reputable sources.
My brother just died of Skin cancer.
He didn't have melanoma. He had either basal or squamos (can't remember).
He had it for over 20 years. It slowly ate away at his face and head. Finally, it caused him to lose his ear, then his eyesight, then it went to his brain and he died.
It was horrible!
Even regular skin cancer can cause death, and in most case disfigurement.
Good luck to you. My brother died of regular skin cancer last year.
He was a red head and always spent a lot of time out in the sun when he was young. He got lots of sunburns.
His children were raised differently. They were not in the sun like he was. I do the same with my children. Not in the sun during peak hours, and always wear lots of sunscreen.
Forgot to mention that my brother was only 48 when he died. Way too young.
I don't like it (I would hate to have to wear makeup. To be a man--once again I'm lucky!), but I do it.
Good for you. I think I would be more consistent in wearing sunscreen if it were easier to apply. For some reason I find it annoying to apply gloppy white stuff all over, especially trying to get it on my ears. Perhaps a spray or a cream would be better. Shampoo should also contain sunblock.
I went to the cosmetics counter with my wife. She helped me find some sunscreen that goes around the eyes. I put it around my eyes every morning.
I should try that. I hate having sunscreen run into my eyes on hot days.
BTW I take high doses of vitamins and I have found this to also be very effective in suppressing sunburn. I have heard that the mechanism of sun damage involves the generation of free radicals, which is suppressed by antioxidants.
I'm a red head so I know what you mean but don't kid yourself that a dark complexion will spare you. The dermatologist I see every year for checkups and, often, the actinic keratosis on my forehead tells me that every year she has to treat dozens of people of Mediterranean, African and Hispanic descent who thought that, since they hardly ever burn, they were immune.
A good tan is some protection, it is not absolute.
This is what I got to put around my eyes: Clinique "Advanced Stop Signs Eye" SPF 15.
This is what I put on the rest of my face: Clinique "Super Defense Triple Action Moisturizer" SPF 25.
If I'm going to be out in the direct sunlight, I put something like Ozone Sport Sunblock 60+ SPF. Try not to let it get in or too close to your eyes.
Sunblock shampoo is a very good idea. I'm surprised that nobody has come up with that before. I would think that it would be very useful to people who dye their hair since sunlight tends to bleach the dye. ~S
I was thinking more of protecting the scalp. Sometimes the shade from one's hair is not enough protection. Perhaps not as many people would be dyeing their hair if they had used such a product.
"I think diet has a lot to do with skin cancer too...."
I didn't get any skin cancer, until I quit drinking alcohol.
When my 16 year old daughter was 12, she was diagnosed with pediatric melanoma. The bad thing was that it was on her face. The good thing was that it was on her face--Why? If it had been on any other part of her body, I would have never seen it. We caught it so early that the cancer had not spread to the sentinel node, so after 2 surgeries, the cancer was out. She now contends with a 4 inch scar on her face, but that is acceptable when compared to what would have happened had this been on her back or under an arm or in a swimsuit area. The treatment then would have been life-changing.
She's not alone. Many kids are being diagnosed with melanoma and scientists are baffled. My daughter had NEVER had even ONE sunburn, much less blistering. She was 12! No time to build up a life time of sun damage.
For those with kids, watch for any changes in a mole and remember this--pediatric melanoma does not look like adult. You know the A B C's of melanoma? They don't apply. Her mole was perfectly symmetrical, flesh colored and smallish. The only thing that did apply was that I noticed it was growing. That was our only clue. In fact, the dermatologist did not even know what it was. Her tissue sample went to 6 different pathologists before someone at UConn connected it with cancer.
Watch moles closely! And if your "mommy-sense" starts tingling, trust it.
Started surfing Tobay and Gilgo in 1965. And yes, I am paying for it now, having dealt with multiple basal and squamish cell removals.
You described squamas cell. It is nearly always treatable if not ignored.
Gilgo Beach. I miss NY :(
Especially being close to the ocean. We would be on the road at 7AM to head to Jones, or it was local like Glenn Island or Rye Beach.
When I was a teen we would lay in the driveway with baby oil and an Album covered with tin foil for that perfect tan.
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