Causes of Skin Cancer
The Facts You Should Understand
Sun Protection is a fact of life™
The causes of skin cancer can be simpler than you may think. With all the news about skin cancer being on the rise today you need to understand the causes of skin cancer. This is the only way to prevent it from happening to you. So let's look into what can bring on skin cancer.
Did You Have Childhood Sun Exposure?
If you are like a lot of people you had a lot of sun exposure as a child. Well this can be one of the causes for skin cancer. Back when we were kids nothing much was known as far as what caused skin cancer. Now we know that the damage we did to our skin as kids can come back to haunt us in the form of skin cancer.
As Adults
As adults we understand now why to watch being in the sun. We also know the importance of some kind of uv protection when we are outdoors. There has been too much press about for us not to know. So we buy and apply sun protection creams in hope of not catching skin cancer.
Just know though that not all skin cancers can be explained on the amount of exposure to the sun though. You also need to look to family history, exposure to radiation treatment and also to chemicals that have certain toxicity.
Sun's UV radiation is of the main causes of skin cancer.
Facts about Sun Exposure
UVA and UVB radiation from the sun as well as those popular tanning beds and tanning lights can damage your skin cells. When this damage occurs cancer can follow. This is why it is often considered the number 1 in the list of causes for skin cancer.
It used to be thought that only the UVB was a cause for skin cancer but this was proven wrong. UVA can also cause it. In fact the UVA can penetrate deeper into the skin than the UVB can.
This can cause the immune system of the skin to get weak and make the risk for cancer occurring higher, particularly the melanoma type of skin cancer. Tanning beds are dangerous for this fact, because they use UVA to tan people.
Are There Other Things That Put You at Risk?
There are some other factors that make you more likely to get skin cancers. One thing is if you have fair skin, this means you don't have the same amount of pigment as a darker-skinned person does. This fact gives you less protection from the sun's harmful UV rays.
If you spend a lot of time in the sun due to your job or other activity you could also be more at risk. If you have an easy time getting sunburned or freckle a lot in the sun this is also another risk factor. Make sure to use sun protection to lower you risk somewhat.
These are the causes of skin cancer and some of the other risk factors. There are more risk factors to be learned out there though. You can read more about this on the Internet or ask your doctor.
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