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Friday, March 29, 2024

Sunlight – Keeping Skin Cancer At Bay

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Deborah Thomas

Skin cancer has been on the rise for the past 5 years and several studies have confirmed that sufficient sun exposure actually prevents skin cancer. The occurrence of melanoma has been linked to the decrease of sun exposure to the human body. According to studies published in the European Journal of Cancer, melanoma patients who had higher exposure to sunlight had a higher survival rate than other patients who had less.

There are now a high amount of skin cancer announcements warning people about getting skin cancer from exposure to the sun. Unfortunately, many experts are now getting worried that these conflicting messages are driving people overboard to the excessive use of creams to cover up. As bizarre as it sounds, avoiding sun and covering one’s body with excessive sunscreen does not prevent skin cancer. On the contrary, some of these sunscreen creams decimates your vitamin D levels.

Although there have been arguments between most dermatologists and cancer groups that all unprotected UV exposure contributes to cumulative skin damage thereby leading to a higher risk of skin cancer, there is significant scientific research from the WHO agency supporting the fact that UV rays radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer.

Besides other factors like genetics that can cause skin cancer in some certain skin types, it would be wise to keep skin cancer at bay right from the start. Some simple ways are stated below:

Getting Some Sunshine

It is difficult to measure the right amount of sunshine needed on a regular basis to prevent skin cancer. The fact remains that maintaining regular exposure to sunlight either by walking in the sun, sunbathing in the garden or seaside is definitely good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle balance. Depending on the skin type and heat tolerance, exposure to natural sunlight in small regular doses increases the body’s production of vitamin D, which prevents skin cancer. The key is not to burn and knowing when leave the sun and go for cover.

Vitamin D supplements:

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The power of Vitamin D should never be underestimated and is one of the most important vitamins needed in our bodies. It is beneficial to get the blood levels checked out medically to see that there is sufficient Vitamin D. If the body is not getting enough from the exposure to sunlight then it is best to get more from supplements.

Using vitamin D supplements is a very effective for reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells. The body organs convert vitamin D into calcotriol, which is known to repair damage from cancer cells and tumours. Renowned scientist and vitamin D experts have studied and found that about 30 percent of cancer deaths worldwide approximately 2 million could be prevented with sufficient levels of vitamin D.

Tanning Beds

There are several conflicting findings where tanning beds are concerned. The main reasons are based around the UVA /UVB ratios and intensities between different tanning beds. UVB rays are responsible for the health benefits of sunshine whilst high UVA rays cause the skin to burn very quickly. Whilst some tanning beds have been considered safe some with loud buzzing noises using magnetic ballasts have been classed as high risk.

Indoor tanning is becoming more popular with almost on an average day, 1 million people tanning in tanning salons in the United States. With billion dollar revenues, it is easy to overlook the risks associated with excessive tanning. In the United States, skin cancer is now the most common type of cancer. It is a similar situation in England and there has been a surge in the skin cancer cases among young adults.

In other countries like Canada, the use of indoor tanning equipment that have been associated with the risk of melanoma skin cancer.

Melanoma is now so high especially among young people between the ages of 15 to 29, that there are now legislations in place in some parts of Canada prohibiting youths under the age of 18 from using indoor tanning equipment.

World Health Organization has stated that all tanning beds cause some form of skin cancer.

Vegetarian Diet

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Eating foods that contain powerful antioxidants, including polyphenols, carotenoids may decrease the risk of melanoma. Five or more of daily portions of fruits and vegetables is recommended as the required portions to keep skin cancer at bay. Having vegetables like spinach, broccoli and dark leafy vegetables have been confirmed in medical

Tea:
There has studies that found the polyphenol antioxidants in green and black teas inhibit the proteins that enhance the development of skin cancer. According to other medical findings, people who drank a minimum of 2 cups of tea daily were linked to a lower incidence of melanoma.

Sources:

Study co-author Zigang Dong, MD, executive director and section leader of the cellular and molecular biology lab at the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota in Austin

Robyn Lucas, an epidemiologist at Australian National University International Journal of Epidemiology.

European Journal of Cancer

World Health Organisation’s International Agency Research

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