Wednesday, May 16, 2007
May is Skin cancer awareness month. This is the time to find out more about this disease, and discover that it's deadly, but curable if caught in an early stage.Women aging between 20 and 29 present the highest risk. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is the second most common type of cancer. Skin cancer can be developed by anyone, the skin color or age not being a very important factor.It is thought that over 1 million Americans will develop this disease during this year.Olay and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) are offering a nationwide free skin cancer screening program, with Marcia Cross being the face of the campaign.These 2 partners advice people to do regular screenings and use different types of UV protection
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The key is to discover suspicious skin lesions at an early stage. Check moles for A)symmetry, for irregular B)orders, for multiple C)olors, for a D)iameter larger than a pencil eraser and for E)volution which is an enlarging or new mole. These are the ABCDE's for self-screening.
It is important to keep checking for new or changing moles, particularly if you are at risk. Those that have had a melanoma removed may be cured but they are at high risk for recurrence of new melanomas. If you have a lot of moles it is very hard (impossible really) to be able to tell if new or changing ones are present though.
DermAlert is an image comparison software program developed through funding from the National Cancer Institute that is inexpensive and lets you use your digital camera in the privacy of your own home to find changing moles over time. Then you can point out the changes to your dermatologist. You can see details and demo at www.dermalert.com
Post a Comment