| Summer is a time for swimming, outings, picnics, and | | | | students undergoing military training, scouts, campers, |
| fun. But it's also the best time to get a bad sunburn | | | | athletes, sunbathers, and swimmers. |
| or worse, a bad case of skin cancer. | | | | Others who need adequate sun protection are the |
| Adequate sunlight helps your body make vitamin D | | | | elderly who have thin skin and are more vulnerable to |
| but too much can kill you. Aside from premature | | | | the sun's deadly rays, babies with delicate skin that |
| aging, wrinkles and cataracts, long-term exposure to | | | | burns easily, those taking drugs like diuretics, |
| the sun's ultraviolet rays causes skin cells to grow | | | | tranquilizers, and antibiotics, and those applying |
| abnormally and develop into a tumor that can be | | | | astringents. |
| cancerous. | | | | "Skin cancer begins in your skin's top layer - the |
| The most common types of skin cancers are basal | | | | epidermis. The epidermis is as thin as a pencil line, and |
| cell and squamous cell cancers. Melanoma is less | | | | it provides a protective layer of skin cells that your |
| common but more serious. This usually occurs in the | | | | body continually sheds. Normally, skin cells within the |
| fourth or fifth decade of life but 80 to 90 percent of | | | | epidermis develop in a controlled and orderly way. In |
| sun-related damage that leads to melanoma occurs | | | | general, healthy new cells push older cells toward the |
| before the age of 18. | | | | skin's surface, where they die and eventually are |
| "There are three major types of skin cancer - basal | | | | sloughed off. This process is controlled by DNA - the |
| cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and | | | | genetic material that contains the instructions for |
| melanoma. Basal cell carcinomas and most squamous | | | | every chemical process in your body," the Mayo Clinic |
| cell carcinomas are slow growing and highly treatable, | | | | said |
| especially if found early. Melanoma is the most serious | | | | "Skin cancer occurs when this process malfunctions. |
| form of skin cancer. It affects deeper layers of the | | | | When DNA is damaged, changes occur in the |
| skin and has the greatest potential to spread to | | | | instructions, which can cause new cells to grow out |
| other tissues in the body. Squamous cell carcinoma | | | | of control and form a mass of cancer cells," it added. |
| also can spread internally," according to the Mayo | | | | Fair-skinned individuals are more likely to develop |
| Clinic. | | | | malignant melanoma but that's no reason for those |
| In the United States alone, there are over one million | | | | with dark skin to rejoice. While people with dark skin |
| cases of skin cancer reported every year and | | | | have more melanin pigment which protects them |
| thousands of deaths annually. This year, the Skin | | | | from burning, experts say melanin-rich complexions |
| Cancer Foundation estimates that over 59,000 | | | | are not immune from the sun's harmful rays. The |
| melanomas will be diagnosed and 8,810 people will die | | | | longer you stay under the sun, the greater your risk |
| of the disease. | | | | of getting skin cancer regardless of the color of your |
| At risk are those who spend too much time under | | | | skin. |
| the sun like laborers, farmers, sailors as well as | | | | |