There are three forms of cancer of the skin or skin cancer and the most dangerous of all is a cancer in the melancytes. Skin cancer in the melancytes manifests itself as a tumor in those cells that produce melanin which is a substance which helps to colour your skin.
When it comes to the skin cancer malignant melanoma, it means that the cells which decide what color your skin, eyes and hair is, and how easily you tan, develop abnormal characteristics and a colored mole for instance may begin to change shape or color.
It is also possible for malignant melanoma to affect the choroids of the eye, which is the layer just behind the retina. It does not hurt, but it can cause blurred vision and other problems with your vision as it can cause a detached retina. Malignant melanoma is the most common form of eye tumor.
You should know that less than one of three instances of the skin cancer malignant melanoma appears in existing moles. And surprisingly (because they look so awful), hairy moles hardly ever turn into malignant melanomas.
It is very important to get moles that are changing shape etc checked out by your medical doctor as soon as possible because as the cancer tumor from the malignant melanoma starts to get deeper into the skin the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body increases dramatically. (This is known as spread).
The key to successful treatment of a cancer like malignant melanoma is early detection of the cancer symptoms, so consider checking your skin regularly and at least once every 3 months and maybe more frequently during the summer months.
Let us also have quick look at the most common symptoms of malignant melanoma. If a mole appears to change shape, develop irregular outline, change in size, getting bigger and sticking out more, changing in color, irregular coloring as different shades of brown, grey, red or blue, a mole that develops a halo or another mole around the original one, itching, painful or bleeding moles, moles that get softer or begin to crumble, then you need to see a medical doctor about it straight away.
Malignant melanomas are most common in areas that receive the most exposure to the sun but it can show up in any location on your body. For people with fair skin the risk areas are the upper part of the back, and for women there is an added risk are on the legs between the knee and the ankle.
Darker skinned people get malignant melanomas very rarely but when they do appear they usually appear on the soles of the feet or on the palms. It is also possible to get malignant melanomas behind the nails of the fingers and the toes.
The key to avoiding malignant melanoma in the first place is to use sun protection and avoid direct sunlight in the middle of the day if at all possible. Another important thing you can do to protect yourself or your young children is to wear clothes that cover up the parts of the body that are at risk. Getting a malignant melanoma is no fun, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
There are many reasons that one may become afflicted with skin cancer. A person’s heredity, skin type and UV exposure are all things to take under consideration when properly weighing the risk of skin cancer. However, more and more, skin cancer cases are being diagnosed at an increasing rate. Could this be due to lifestyle changes? It’s possible, but not altogether a confident hypothesis. One thing that may be increasing our risk for skin cancer is the condition of our planet.
The O-zone layer is a crucial part of our atmosphere. Consisting of triple-bonds of oxygen, this layer found on our planet helps to decrease the amount of ultra-violet rays that hit our surface. This layer, while key to our survival, is under attack by our very way of life. Pollution and climate change has eliminated as much as fifty percent of the higher layers of the O-zone layer, causing concern among scientists.
Approximately thirty percent of the crucial layer in its entirety has already been destroyed. Since the depletion of the O-zone layer has reached epic proportions, more and more cases of skin cancer are being diagnosed. The Environment Program of the United Nations has even put out an estimate that for every one percent of the ozone layer we lose, there will be a two to three percent rise in the average person’s chance of getting skin cancer. For this reason, it’s important to take every precaution that you can when exposing yourself to the increasingly dangerous rays of the sun.
If you’re not out looking for a tan, cover up the best you can and wear a hat. Thin layers of clothing do little to prevent the transmission of UV rays, so be sure to wear tightly woven clothing, preferably dark in color. In addition to the risks presented to humans by the destruction of the O-zone layer, plants are affected by the increased UV rays as well. Studies conducted in Tierra del Fuego correlated an increased risk of DNA damage to plants that received higher levels of ultra-violet exposure.
So, what can you do personally to help prevent further depletion of the O-zone layer? Unfortunately, as one person, there’s little that you can do. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were discovered to cause damage to the O-zone layer over a decade ago and are now banned, making the individual’s contribution to the destruction of the O-zone layer severely lessened. Most of the damage to the O-zone layer being done now is due to the illegal use of stockpiled CFC products and HCFC products, which similarly damage the O-zone layer and will be phased out by most nations by 2015. The O-zone layer may begin to mend itself, but this is not expected to happen for the next 10 to 15 years, if it happens at all. To that end, all that you can really do is protect yourself from the sun’s rays and hope that corporate responsibility is present in those that would damage the planet that gives us all life.
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