SKIN CANCER A-Z

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EXHAUST PIPES - The fumes from car exhausts kills us slowly when we burn it and release the carcinogens into the atmosphere to create smogs. We might as well be smoking. Before Zyklon B, Russians and Germans gassed the inmates of concentration camps using the exhaust fumes from trucks. It is estimated that around 8 million people died in 2018 of cancer caused by vehicle pollution. That is three times the mortality rate of Covid 19. What are we like? It is our politicians who determine the speed at which we transition to clean technologies, and how we clean up the pollution we are making. Including plastic and radioactive waste - that we can never get rid of.

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Non-melanoma skin cancer refers to a group of cancers that slowly develop in the upper layers of the skin, typically exacerbated by exposure to sunlight. The term non-melanoma distinguishes these more common types of skin cancer from the less common skin cancer known as melanoma, which can be more serious.

This one we cannot blame on pollution or other carcinogens. This form of cancer develops if you allow your skin to be exposed to harmful amounts of ultraviolet radiation. Humans, like other animals and plants, have adapted to life on earth, where much of the harmful cosmic rays are filtered out by our atmosphere.

The body defends itself against skin cancer by building up melanin in the skin. Melanin is what causes tanning. Vitamin D and copper help the body to create a tan. Those who live in sunny regions have darker skins. Because they have adapted to sunlight, in order to survive the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.

The problem is that we all like a tan in the summer. Sunbathing is a thing on beaches all over the world, despite the risks. One way of increasing your resistance to being burned, is to use a sun-block cream or lotion.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs in the body.

THE INDEPENDENT 21 JULY 2022 - BIDEN CLAIMS DELAWARE POLLUTION TO BLAME FOR HIS CANCER - Joe Biden appeared to announce he has cancer, before the White House press office clarified he was referring to skin cancer treatment he had before taking office. During a climate speech on Wednesday, the president recalled how pollution in Delaware gave him and “so many other people” the disease.

“You’d have to put on your windshield wipers to get literally the oil slick off the window,” Mr Biden said. “That’s why I, and so damn many other people I grew up with, have cancer.” Mr Biden had several non-melanoma skin cancers removed before he became president.

What are the 7 warning signs of skin cancer?

Changes in Appearance. ...
Post-Mole-Removal changes to your skin. ...
Fingernail and Toenail changes. ...
Persistent Pimples or Sores. ...
Impaired Vision. ...
Scaly Patches. ...
Persistent Itching.

What are two warning signs of skin cancer?

Melanoma signs and symptoms

A large brownish spot with darker speckles.
A mole that changes in color, size or feel or that bleeds.
A small lesion with an irregular border and portions that appear red, pink, white, blue or blue-black.
A painful lesion that itches or burns.

Is skin cancer curable?

Nearly all skin cancers can be cured if found and treated early. Treatments include excision, cryotherapy, Mohs surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Check your skin for any changes in size, shape or color of skin growths. See your dermatologist once a year for a professional skin checkup.

Signs and symptoms of melanoma

The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole.

This can happen anywhere on the body, but the most commonly affected areas are the back in men and the legs in women. 

Melanomas are uncommon in areas that are protected from sun exposure, such as the buttocks and the scalp.

In most cases, melanomas have an irregular shape and are more than 1 colour.

The mole may also be larger than normal and can sometimes be itchy or bleed.

Look out for a mole that gradually changes shape, size or colour.

What causes melanoma?

Melanoma is caused by skin cells that begin to develop abnormally.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun is thought to cause most melanomas, but there's evidence to suggest that some may result from sunbed exposure.

The type of sun exposure that causes melanoma is sudden intense exposure. For example, while on holiday, which leads to sunburn.

  EXPOSURE TO THE SUN & ULTRAVIOLET LAMPS IS THOUGHT TO CAUSE MOST MELANOMAS

PREVENTION

Cancer prevention is action taken to lower the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the number of new cases of cancer in a group or population is lowered. Hopefully, this will lower the number of deaths caused by cancer. Unfortunately, the undertaker policies of most G20 nations, is sending millions of people to early graves. National health services cannot cope, as governments well know, but they are doing little about it, rather condoning long waiting list to kill off the victims of their negligent administrations.

To prevent new cancers from starting, scientists look at risk factors and protective factors. Anything that increases your chance of developing cancer is called a cancer risk factor; anything that decreases your chance of developing cancer is called a cancer protective factor.

Some risk factors for cancer can be avoided, but many cannot. For example, both smoking and inheriting certain genes are risk factors for some types of cancer, but smoking can be avoided as can driving petrol and diesel cars. Eating fish laden with toxins carried by plastics, is also something that can be avoided - except that many people in the world are dependent on seafood's for protein.

Where prevention is better than cure, clean energy infrastructure is necessary, to tackle the disease at the root cause. That also means not using single use plastics, and filtering rivers and oceans.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet may be protective factors for some types of cancer. Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may lower your risk but it does not mean that you will not get cancer.

Different ways to prevent cancer are being studied, including:

- Drive an electric car and tell others about exhaust fumes

- Lobby your MP for cleaner transport and plastic alternatives
- Avoiding things known to cause cancer, like toxic ocean plastics
- Taking medicines to treat a pre-cancerous condition or to keep cancer from starting

- Eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and foods with B vitamins

- Take exercise and avoid overly rich carcinogenic foods, like plastic toxified fish

- Move out of the city

The undesirable effects of sunlight on the skin are believed to be triggered by the production of damaging, destructive biochemical entities known as free radicals. The fires that free radicals start in the body are extinguished by substances called antioxidants, many of which are available in food. Stoking up on antioxidants has the potential to reduce the risk of sunburn, and is believed to help combat longer-term problems, such as ageing changes and skin cancer, too.

One antioxidant that is believed to play a particular role in skin protection is betacarotene. Carrots, spinach, apricots, cantaloupe melons and mangoes are all rich in this. However, additional supplementation with betacarotene may prove a convenient and economical way of getting maximum protection from this nutrient. My advice would be to take 30mg each day during the summer. Other antioxidant nutrients worth dosing up on include vitamins C and E. In one study, 2,000g of vitamin C and 1,000IU of vitamin E taken each day appeared to protect the skin from sunburn.

Other nutrients can help the skin by assisting in the production of melanin - the pigment that darkens the skin during tanning and acts as a natural sunscreen. Melanin is made from an amino acid known as L-tyrosine, and taking 1,000-1,500mg of this each day as a supplement can help the body tan quite naturally. The conversion of L-tyrosine into melanin is helped by certain nutrients, notably vitamin C, vitamin B6 and copper. By taking 2,000mg of vitamin C, 50mg of vitamin B6 and 4mg of copper each day you may speed up your tan while at the same time reducing the risk of sunburn.

Remember Hinkley, California and PG&E, put yourself at risk as to any carcinogen and the chances are that your will get sick. Equally, those responsible for making you ill, will do all they can to deny it.

Air pollution levels tend to be higher in UK towns and cities. So why would anyone live there? The answer to that is they need the work and the money - so are prepared to accept the risk of a shorter life and painful death. And of course it costs more to live in the country, where there are no affordable houses. Councils like Wealden make sure of that.

In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) confirmed that outdoor air pollution is a cause of cancer. Tiny dust-like particles just millionths of a metre wide, called ‘particulate matter’, make up a part of outdoor air pollution. The smallest particles known as PM10 and PM2.5 are linked to lung cancers caused by pollution. It is not fully understood how these particles can damage DNA in cells and cause cancer.

Air pollution is a killer and the level of toxins can lead to several health conditions. Apart from severe respiratory conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular problems and hypertension, stroke, impaired mental health, anxiety, low birth weight babies, pre-term delivery and depression, air pollution can also be linked to cancer.

Pollutants in the air are absorbed into the circulatory system and pumped all around the body. They can also get deposited on soil, water, and other natural sources, increasing human exposure. In a recent meta-analysis, it was found that exposure to the main air pollutants is associated with increased mortality from all cancers. For instance, radon, which is a radioactive gas, that can accumulate indoors is one of the leading risk factors for lung cancer.

Economies based on carcinogenic fossil fuels contravene the laws of natural justice, where those who knowingly kill their brothers and sisters in the name of profit, are guilty of murder. It is Cain slaying Able, where the instruments of death are greenhouse gases and particulates. Vote for rulers who have a conscience, not a fat wallet. The two seldom go hand in hand.

Guidelines by the World Health Organization give definitions as to air pollution, but there is nothing similar for ocean plastic pollution.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/biden-claims-delaware-pollution-to-blame-for-his-cancer/ar-AAZNyh4

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

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