Skin Cancer: Melanoma Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer to be found in a population. More than 3.5 million people were diagnosed with skin cancer in the year of 2014. (American Cancer Society, 2015) There are three main types of skin cancer: Melanoma, Basal, and Squamous. (Gardner, 2012) Skin cancer is caused by large amounts of exposed skin to ultraviolet light. For skin cancer to develop, the skin has to absorb large quantities of exposed UV rays. It damages the cells creating the growth of skin cells to repair and replace the damaged ones. The forming of newer cells continue its growth and does not stop, producing a ball of cells, a tumor. (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2015) “Once that chemical energy has been absorbed by the DNA, …show more content…
Some risk factors contributing to melanoma are people with fair skin, have had sunburns, having moles, living close or near the equator, a family history of the disease, and an weaken immune system. (Mayo Clinic, 2015) However, a patient who may have fair skin is easier targeted to have sunburns, having sunburns means that the skin is repairing from the UV rays, and at times the growth of cells, from repairing, may not stop. As represented in figure 1, in the US patients who are white are diagnosed three to four times as much as other races. Another risk factor would be having moles on the skin contributing to a way for melanoma to be produced. For a patient who live closer to the equator versus a patient who lives on the north pole, the patient who lives closer to the equator is more likely to be susceptible to melanoma. The closer one is from the equator the higher chance the person is affected to UV rays. Also, having a family history of the disease can be passed down to offspring and the patient who has a family history has an increased risk of reviving the disease. Additionally, having a weak immune system causes an easier pathway for the build up of cells causing the cancer. (Mayo Clinic, 2015) All of the risk factors listed above, are all reasons to be aware of what one does in everyday
Family Rules Under the age 18, getting one bad sunburn doubles the chances of getting melanoma. Melanoma is known as the most serious type of skin cancer that appears when the cells that produce melanin become cancerous. In order to prevent this fatal cancer, parents must be responsible for putting sunscreen on their children. Also, parents should set a good example for their kids.
All of these factors play a part in our health, and
Three main factors to this trend in cancer is frequent exposure to environmental carcinogens, inheritance of cancer genes and having a weak immune system. For instance, “ The results of the research indicate that DNA damage does occur in workers exposed to low concentrations of styrene.” (Doc. D) Since workers are frequently being exposed to carcinogens their cells are vulnerable to damage. A majority of these workers that come in contact with these carcinogens work in construction or agricultural fields.
Indoor tanning bed use is a huge problem in the United States. Baker and colleagues reported back in 1990 that the number of tanning salons in the United States was as high as 200,000, there were 40,000 different places who manufactured tanning beds, and roughly 200,000 people had tanning beds in their home (Baker et al., 1990). This makes it easy for one to find a place to use an indoor tanning bed. The American Academy of Dermatology reported that 59% of college students have used a tanning bed at some point in their life, and that using a tanning bed before age 35 can increase a person’s risk of developing melanoma by 59% each time an indoor tanning bed is used (ADA, 2018). A majority of college students who use indoor tanning beds do
Indoor tanning beds emit ultraviolet radiation causing an increased risk of skin cancer (Stapleton 1). Some physicians say that indoor tanning is “carcinogenic”. Tanning beds are at greater risk for skin cancer, whether they burn or tan. There is 75% risk of melanoma when you use tanning beds. (“Why Tanning Beds Are Bad for Your Skin”).
On an average day there are about a million people who go tanning on a regular basis, and of those million people, most are younger, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine (Hochman). People who use tanning beds before age of thirty-five have a seventy-five percent increased risk of developing melanoma (Fellingham). There are approximately 65,000 new cases nationwide of melanoma and about 9,000 deaths each year from the most preventable disease (Salsberg). Researchers said that there is a death every hour because of melanoma
“Warning: That Tan Could Be Hazardous” by Sabrina Tavernise appeared on New York Times, in the January 10, 2015. In her article, Tavernise insists that indoor tanning provides people with skin cancer which might bring them to having melanoma (the most serious type of skin cancer). Sabrina Tavernize says that many factors, including genetics, are at play with skin cancer, one of the largest is the ultraviolet light, which people get during tanning process, it exposures its non burning ray to getting melanoma. Teenage girls from different states, who were intervied said, that tan skin makes them feel “… more confident and more comfortable...,” when they walk around, but they don’t realize what the risk is. According to the information used in the article, tanning beds account approximately 400,000 cases of skin cancer in the United States each year, with 6,000 cases of melanoma.
One health risk being overexposure to ultraviolet light, greatly increase the possibility of being diagnosed with skin cancer. Yet, the North American society is willing to “look good” at the cost of potentially dying of a skin related disease. In this case, the people of North America are showing the same ignorance as the women of the Nacirema people who bake their heads in small ovens for roughly an
UV radiation is a form of energy from natural and artificial sunlight. Excess amounts can cause damage to DNA in the skin. Although some argue tanning is good for you because it helps form a “base tan” and the UV exposure time is controlled. The truth is, each time you lay in a tanning bed, it increases the risk of developing skin cancer
The skin is an organ and the largest in the body. Not only does your skin protect you from harmful contaminants, such as bacteria and viruses, but it protects your skin from environmental toxins. However, the one thing that harms the skin the most is the sun. Skin cancer has become a very common occurrence in residents of Jasper, Dubois County, and its surrounding areas because we spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors.
What’s your thought on tanning? Do you think tanning in a salon isn’t harmful? Do you think tanning outside is more harmful. Tanning indoors or even tanning outdoors is very harmful to you. With outdoor tanning you can prevent the intake of UVB and UVA rays by properly using sunblock but in tanning beds you cannot.
Using tanning beds before the age of 30 increases the risk of getting the deadliest skin cancer (Melanoma) by 59 percent (Hughe, D. 2012).Yet still, there is the question of, “ Should teens be allowed to use tanning beds?”. Tanning has proven to contribute to developing skin cancer, so tanning dramatically increases the chance of developing cancer. Also, the color skin turns from indoor tanning can be quite unnatural and it can be very obvious that the person had gone indoor tanning based on the color of their skin. To add, the conditions of the tanning beds are not as sanitary as people may think. The beds can have all the germs of the people who tanned there before because the beds are not being cleaned regularly.
Imagine walking into a room and being instantly identified as a criminal. Imagine having to experience this in every room you enter. Imagine walking into a store and being watched, expected to be a thief or sometimes even expected to reveal a knife, gun or a bomb. When we meet new people, most of us look for differences rather than similarities. From young we are taught that everyone is different and that continually makes us associate others by these differences.
Intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors, both contribute to this process. As discussed earlier, UV-induced damage to the DNA causes a poor renewal of the skin. When exposed to harsh sunlight, an individual is also exposed to the UV light that comes along with it. Excessive exposure can cause premature aging in certain individuals and also is observed as severe pigmentation and sunburns as well. The antioxidants, namely vitamin E and vitamin C are majorly targeted by the UV light and thus, reduce the antioxidant capacity of the epidermis on prolonged exposure.
Relevance of topic to audience: Although the sun is necessary for life, too much sun exposure can lead to adverse health effects. More than 1 million people in the United States are diagnosed with skin cancer each year (EPA). So, everybody is subjected to these potential adverse effects of overexposure to the sun. C. Established Credibility: My family has a history of skin cancer D. Thesis: Many people do not use sun protection on a daily bases and are unaware of the health effects of sun exposure that can be easily preventive by using sun protection. E. Preview: Today I want to educate and motivate you to wear sun protection by explaining how sun exposure affects everyone, that there is no excuse for not protecting yourself with all the different kinds of sun protection products available, and finally, to remind you that the simple step of applying sunblock eliminates potential and preventable health effects.