Your Health Matters
By Claudia Parks, R.N.

Claudia Parks, RN, is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband live in the north Georgia Mountains, near Blairsville. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream.net

We've all done something really stupid- and we like to say- "in our younger years"! Many times it was from just not knowing any better. After all, in my teenage years we didn't have the exposure to television "warnings"- let alone the Internet or even the available information that is out there today! Nobody talked about skin cancer or the dangers of a sunburn- except for the pain it inflicted- then you treated the sunburn with Noxzema® or calamine lotion. (If the information had been there, would we have noticed, listened and taken the advice?)

Being raised in the Palm Beach county area of Florida, where the beach was the place to be, I shall never forget the Labor Day before school started my senior year. Agroup of us decided to make it a day at the beach and get our last tan together! Some of you will remember-- you took a bottle of baby oil and dumped a half of bottle of iodine into it- shook it well, and then smeared it all over yourself! We were unaware of UV or lotions with SPF- we had just heard that this would give you a great tan!

Four hours at the beach with this combination and being of fair skin I ended up a fried human! Use your imagination: I was unable to attend the first two weeks of school, I had to receive IV fluids, the doctor said I had 2nd & 3rd degree burns- I was still peeling at Thanksgiving! To this day, my skin is fragile and I wear long sleeves while in the sun because otherwise I will break out with an allergic rash similar to poison ivy. My dermatologist watches very close for skin cancer- and I've had numerous actinic keratosis (precancerous) lesions removed. I also developed cataracts a little earlier than normal- as a young person I never had a pair of sunglasses that had UV protection. One plus on my side, I have never smoked! Smoking can also really do its fair share of skin damage especially when mixed with the sun!

There is so much information about the dangers of UV rays and with global warming- less ozone layer--we are in even more danger. BUT, do the individuals who want a tan, or those working in the sun ever pay any attention to the warnings? Younger folks think of themselves as immortal. When you have lost a dear friend or a relative to Melanoma, you can bet it will sink-in!

What is skin cancer? Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of all cancers in the U.S. and the number of cases continues to rise. It is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells. While healthy cells grow and divide in an orderly way, cancer cells grow and divide in a rapid, haphazard manner. This rapid growth results in tumors that are either benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Basal cell and squamous cell cancers are less serious types and make up 95 percent of all skin cancers. Also referred to as non-melanoma skin cancers, they are highly curable when treated early.

Melanoma, made up of abnormal skin pigment cells called melanocytes, is the most serious form of skin cancer and causes 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths. Left untreated, it can spread to other organs and is difficult to control. (My friend died in less than six months after diagnosis- she was fifty- and loved the sun! Her melanoma was located on the calf of her leg- when she first saw it- she thought it was a large blackhead. She went to a dermatologist for another condition and while there asked him to remove the blackhead- because she couldn't reach it!)

Melanoma usually appears as a pigmented patch or bump. It may resemble a normal mole, but usually has a more irregular appearance. When looking for melanoma, think of the ABCD rule that tells you the signs to watch for:

Asymmetry - the shape of one half doesn't match the other

Border - edges are ragged or blurred

Color - uneven shades of brown, black, tan, red, white or blue

Diameter - A significant change in size (greater than 6 mm)

Skin cancer is diagnosed only by performing a biopsy. This involves taking a sample of the tissue, which is then placed under a microscope and examined by a dermatopathologist, or doctor who specializes in examining skin cells. Sometimes a biopsy can remove all of the cancer tissue and no further treatment is needed.

Treatment of skin cancer depends on the type and extent of the disease. Treatment is individualized and is determined by the type of skin cancer, its size, and location and the patient's preference. Search the Internet (such as Google) and you will get valuable information on this subject.