I know it’s
a little early for this but since the weather has been so warm in most parts of
the county and it is getting closer to summer, I thought I’d share some links
on skin cancer and sun safety. It’s
never too early to start protecting yourself.
So you think a tanning bed is safer
than being out in the sun?
For
information on tanning equipment, visit the EPA website:
Skin cancer treatment: sources of
authoritative information
There are many kinds of treatments
available depending on the type of cancer.
For melanoma, the options are surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy,
and biologic therapy. For more
information on all aspects of melanoma, visit http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/skin/patient/
For basal cell carcinoma
information, visit http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/reference/myBiopsy/SkinBasalCellCarcinoma.pdf
For treatment information on Merkel cell
carcinoma, visit http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/merkel-cell
Squamous cell carcinoma treatment
information can be found at http://www.cap.org/apps/docs/reference/myBiopsy/squamous_cell_skin_cancer.pdf
Treatment options vary widely
depending on the type of cancer and the stage of the cancer. It is important to ask your doctor proper
questions in order to make an informed decision about your treatment. The previous links provide authoritative
information on the various types of cancer.
For more information on all aspects
of skin cancer, visit the MedlinePlus skin cancer page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/skincancer.html#cat3
Types of Skin Cancer
To see what
Basal Cell Carcinoma looks like, please visit the following website from the
American Academy of Dermatology:
To
see what squamous cell carcinoma looks like, please visit the following website from the American
Academy of Dermatology: http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/squamous_cell_carcinoma.html
To see what melanoma looks like,
please visit the following website from the American Academy of Dermatology: http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/melanoma.html
To see what Merkel
cell carcinoma looks like and for more information, visit the following web
site from the American Academy of Dermatology:
http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/whatis_merkel_cell.html
Skin Cancer Self-Examination and Prevention
It is important to protect yourself
in order to prevent skin cancer or to find it early. For a great sheet with instructions for skin
cancer self-examination, check out: http://www.melanomamonday.org/documents/08_96%20Melanoma%20Monday%20Mole%20Map.pdf
For more information on protecting
kids from the sun, visit http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/outdoor/sun_safety.html
With the overwhelming amount of sun
protection products, it’s important to understand what all those claims
mean. The FDA is in the process of
finalizing its long-awaited label changes to sunscreens. One of those changes would be that no
sunscreen would have higher than a 50 SPF.
All those claims of high SPF numbers and all the other claims can be
very confusing. To find out more
information on sun protection and sunscreens, visit http://www.medicinenet.com/sun_protection_and_sunscreens/article.htm
Have you seen all those ads for
special sun-protective clothing and wondered if it’s worth it? Here’s a great article from the Mayo Clinic
answering that very question: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sun-protective-clothing/AN01975
The CDC has some great information
on skin cancer and covering up when out in the hot summer sun. Although the campaign has officially ended,
they still have a lot of great information available online. Check out these sites:
Choose Your Cover Campaign Materials
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