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Introduction

Looking Back

The Present Situation

How To Minimize Sun Damage

Treating Eye Disorders

Treating Skin Damage

Alternative Treatment Methods

My Personal Experience with Actinic Keratoses

Conclusion

 

The Present Situation

Scientists are reporting that the ozone layer, which normally helps block UV rays, is thinning. Many health experts are attributing the rising skin cancer rate to this phenomena. They say each 1% decrease in ozone translates into a 3% increase in the amount of UVB radiation reaching the earth, which in turn translates into more new cases of skin cancer annually. Scientists warn that over ONE MILLION cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S.A. in 2001. The deadliest skin cancer, melanoma, will strike 51,000 Americans, a toll rising 3 percent a year. Skin cancer will kill almost 10,000 this year, the majority melanoma sufferers.

Presently, the most common cancer in America is skin cancer. There are three types of skin cancer: squamous, basal cell and malignant melanoma (the most serious and life threatening kind). The rates of each of these types of skin cancer are increasing, and the vast majority of cases occurs in fair-skinned individuals. Also, those with a history of 8 or more skin cancers run an almost 100% risk of developing a new skin cancer every 12 months.

The predecessor of skin cancer is a pre-cancerous condition called "Actinic Keratosis", most commonly caused by overexposure to the sun during a person's growing up years. AKs are small, scaly spots most commonly found on the face, scalp, arms and back of the hands. If left untreated, some AKs turn into skin cancer, requiring medical treatment which includes: cryotherapy (freezing AKs off with liquid nitrogen); surgically removing them; and topically applied chemotherapy.

While it's no secret that the suns rays can damage the skin and increase the risk of skin cancer, researchers at Flinders University in Australia say it can also damage our immune system, the body's defense mechanism against infectious diseases and indeed, against sun damage as well. A ten year research project by Flinders University in collaboration with Hamilton Laboratories in Australia, one of the early pioneers of broad spectrum sunscreens, tested how sunscreens can reduce the sun's effect on local immunosuppression and led to a breakthrough product called "Hamilton's Superblock". Reducing the effects of systemic immunosuppression still remains a challenge however. Until the research is in, the best we can do is to follow these suggestions.

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