An Overview of Skin Cancer
by John Grimme
Cancer. Is there any more devastating word? How stupid would you feel if you were diagnosed with it and found out you could have prevented it. In this case, we are talking skin cancer.
You wake up one morning and your shoulder is sore and there is a drop of blood on your pillow. You look in the mirror and see a blemish oozing. The diagnosis is skin cancer.
Can you imagine sitting there after being told you have cancer. All those problems in your life might seem a bit trivial. In fact, you might feel a bit idiotic considering you could have prevented skin cancer.
A diagnosis of cancer carries a certain lotto factor. Getting cancer is bad enough, but the type of cancer is critical to your ultimate outcome. Fortunately, skin cancer is both treatable and preventable.
So, just what are we talking about when we say skin cancer? In the most basic terms, it is an unnatural growth in the layers of the skin. The growth typically occurs in the epidermis.
As you can probably guess, skin cancer is caused by sun exposure. The exposure can be for short periods that result in burns, but they can also be for exposure over long periods of time. Having a good tan has not been shown to make a difference.
As with the term ?cancer?, there are actually subcategories of skin cancer. Some are bad and some not so much.
The least common form of skin cancer is also the deadlines. We are talking about melanoma. Malignant. Unless caught early, it will spread and is fatal.
Strange as it may sound, the second sub-cancer can be hereditary. It is basal cell. It is also the most frequently diagnosed skin cancer. The good news is it is rarely fatal and can be treated.
Squamous cell can be a nasty form of skin cancer, but it can also be caused by things other than the sun. It is found on both the skin and internal organs. The skin version is treatable, but it can spread and be deadly
There is a really sad thing about people with bad skin cancer. The ugly truth is they could have done something about it. You see, skin cancer is prevented pretty easily.
Picture a warm, sunny day. What are people doing? They are lying out in the sun. They are going on walks. They are doing some landscaping. All of these things put them at risk for skin cancer.
The magic cure for skin cancer is sun protection. If you are going to be out in the sun, wear it! That's it. How hard is that? If you have less hair than you might wish, you should also wear a hat. Take these common sense, easy steps, and you can prevent problems.
John Grimme is with AllTerrainco.com - makers of natural products for the outdoors. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.
|
