Introduction Skin cancers have been affecting peoples’ lives for hundreds of years. The worse possible form of skin cancer is melanoma. Most people aren’t aware of the damages this type of cancer can cause and the ways it should be treated. Studying the forms and main factors that cause melanoma in young Australians is very important based on all the different aspects. For this study, it is important to look into each of the samples’ background, family history, job, region, and sun expose. I hypothesis that with the help from many researchers and scientist, the study of cases of melanoma will help people better understand ways to protect themselves and what makes them more susceptible to the disease. Providing people with a more in-depth and answers on how to avoid getting melanoma and how to prevent from getting it again is an essential message for people to understand. According to Douglas Czarnecki (2014), the number of cases of melanomas being removed from young Australians, between the ages of toddlers to 30 years old, has been significantly increasing. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics was analyzed by Czarnecki and he determined that low risk people were normally from the …show more content…
Several studies have helped further the research of the chances of developing melanoma. Comparing and conducting samples has helped people better understand the causes of melanoma and how to help avoid the disease. According to Salmon et al, comparing the finding of melanoma cases in Tauranga region of New Zealand and comparing the rates to that of Australia helped form the data needed to develop the main factors that contribute to developing melanoma (2007). The Tauranga region has very high rates of invasive melanomas, most likely related to the environment, societal factors, outdoor exposure, and relatively fair skin coloring. This study is similar to that conducted by Anders
Anthropologists and geographers have studied and overtime come to the conclusion that distribution of skin color is not random. Darker skin color has been found to typically come from near the equator and lighter skin colors are typically coming from closer to the north and south poles. Over the years, researchers have found that darker skin colors has protected the skin from having skin cancer. Recent studies have shown that “skin color is the product of natural selection acting to regulate the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation on key nutrients crucial to the reproductive success” (169).
Melanoma is an extremely important issue, as 75% of skin cancer deaths in Australia are attributed to melanoma, making it the most dangerous form of skin cancer in the country (AIHW 2010). The AIHW also states that Australia has the highest occurrence of melanoma in the world, with over 12,500 Australians being diagnosed annually, and having a recorded 1500 deaths each year. The Melanoma Institute of Australia states that melanoma is the “most common cancer in young Australians aged 15-39”, and that “rates have doubled in the 20 years from 1986-2006”. The incidence of melanoma is increasing more rapidly than any other major cancer. Owing to the high incidence and mortality rates of the disease in Australia, melanoma is the most life-threatening form of skin cancer in the country, making it a very serious non-communicable disease.
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The combination of the predominantly light-skinned population, tropical latitude, and cultural emphasis on out-door activities have contributed to this problem. The Australian government has taken measu...
Malignant Melanoma is a type of malignant cancer that affects the melanocytes. A melanocyte produces the pigmentation in our skin and melanin gives us the color to our skin. These cells occur in the skin and can be found in other parts of the body. It is important to realize that melanoma can begin in any part of the body that can contain a melanocyte. Melanoma is considered less common than other skin cancers. It is a cancer that can be very dangerous if not detected early. Although in most cases it is diagnosed in time and can be cured. Many people are diagnosed with this cancer and it is said that 160,000 cases are diagnosed a year. ( ). In men a common site is on their back and for a woman is on their legs.
A regular skin exam (every 6-8 weeks) will help in the melanoma dectection process. Look for irregular skin growths and have the growth examined by a health care provider if the growth promotes cause for alarm.
The prominent theory today about how and why skin pigment in humans developed with the color diversity that exists today, is that ancestral populations of humans inhabited areas with different UV radiation concentration. As a result, the effects of UV radiation put positive evolutionary pressure on skin pigment to develop for sufficient folate protection and Vitamin D production. For a long time, paleontologists have known that human ancestors had dense hair that covered their bodies. The reason that modern humans lack such covering is probably due to changes in climate and habitation choice, but for whatever reason the dense hair covering disappeared, it ultimately did, rendering the skin much more exposed to both the elements and to UV rays. Scientists believe that in response to this change in UV concentrations, the human skin became tougher, and developed a protective pigment called ‘melanin’ which protects against the effects of UV radiation.
Well-known magazines often have broad headlines that show off celebrities sporting bronzed skin, and these articles often throw around the words “healthy” and “glowy” in a positive context. With this influence subjected upon the general public, indoor tanning has become a popular recreation of American men and women alike. As this new trend continues to rise, medical researchers are beginning to pay close attention to the health effects of indoor tanning, especially when referring to tanning beds, respectively. Through many recent case findings and studies, scientists have linked the use of tanning beds to many dermal health problems including types of skin cancers that are deadly. Despite the fact that tanning beds are detrimental to the dermal health of its victims, the use of tanning beds is on the rise and growing.
The major environmental risk factor for melanoma is overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. People who have fair skin that burns or freckles easily need to be especially careful in the sun as protecting yourself against UV overexposure is an important way you can help reduce your risk of developing melanoma.
Sun shine contain ultraviolet ray which can cause the sunburn or even skin cancer. According to Cancer Council in Australia, Australia has highest incident rate of skin cancer in the world. More than 430000 Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer each year. There are approximately 60 percent of people who have got skin cancer will survive greater than five years after they diagnosis (Cancer Council Australia, 2014). In order to protect people under the sun, the sun protective behaviour is significant necessary.
Indoor tanning is becoming a very popular “hobby”, but most people do not know, or do not care, about its dangerous side effects. Studies show that people who use tanning booths have a much higher chance of being diagnosed with skin cancer. If someone were to start tanning indoors before they turn 30 or 25, the risk of them getting Melanoma peaks, and if they start tanning before they turn 20 or 25, they are much more likely to get basal and squamous cancer.
In conclusion, melanin production has played a considerably important role in human evolution. Not only does it influence color pigmentation through its protective role of defending against harmful UV rays, but also determines detrimental features such as eye-sight and hearing. Furthermore, melanin production and its evolutionary adaptions mark an important presence upon our biological systems to this day. Therefore, in the process of furthering human evolution, melanin production has played an enormous role in human evolution by selecting for several features that allow for particular adaptions according to the human's geographical location and environment.
Natalie was 24 and had an itchy oddly shaped mole. She then went to get it checked out, and came to find she had melanoma. Natalie had to undergo 3 hours of surgery. “Tanning beds give you a 59% chance of skin cancer” Indoor tanning has bad effects on people because it increases your chance of skin cancer and the effects it has on skin appearance.
Skin cancer is a disease where cancer (malignant) cells are found on the outer layer of the skin (epidermis). The three types of cells found in the epidermis are squamous cells, basal cells, and melanocytes. These cells in time grow to be cancerous. Thus, the three types of skin cancers are squamous cell, basal cell, and melanoma. Melanoma is the most deadliest and destructive type of cancer. (“Skin Cancer” infotrac.com) The number of people with melanoma has risen in Scotland from 3.5 in 1979 to 10.6 per 100,000 in 1998 for men and 7.0 to 13.1 for women. (Miller 945) Squamous cell and Basal cell skin cancer can kill up to 2,200 people a year in the United States. (Sommerfield SIRS.com) Basal cell, being the most common type of skin cancer, is the cancer that about 75 percent of the people have. (“Skin Cancer “ infotrac.com) Melanoma is mostly seen in older men but ever since tanning came in during the 1970’s, it has increased in women 60 percent around the ages 15-29 over the past three decades.(Sommerfield SIRS.com) “And basal cell and squamous cell cancers are increasing at a rate of about 5 percent per year”(Sommerfield SIRS.com).
Indoor tanning increases the risk of developing melanoma because the amount of ultraviolet radiation given off is more than the sun would give off if a person was outside of a summer day. Statistics from Melanoma Research Foundation shows, from one blistering sunburn the chances of developing melanoma later in life. In addition, “using tanning beds before age 30 increases your risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent” (Melanoma Research Foundation). The occasional use of tanning bed can triple your chances. Also, the more sessions, hour and years a person spends tanning increases a person to a higher risk of developing many types of skin cancer (Melanoma Research Foundation). People might think they can “safe tan” but tanning damages the skin cells giving off the color. “Researcher suggests cumulative damage to skin cells can lead to wrinkles, age spots, premature aging and skin cancer. Tanning has been classified as too dangerous the several countries have made indoor tanning illegal” (Melanoma Research Foundation). People try to give themselves an excuse to tan for example, getting that “base tan” before vacations but base tans do not really help a person protect themselves against sunburn but actually gives minimal sun protection. Tanning has risk but some small studies have shown that naloxone a drug that blocks the withdrawal
The high incidence of skin cancer in Australia is the reason for our choice of