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Posts with tag tans

Colorful cancer prevention

The brighter the fruits and veggies, the better they are at fighting cancer. It's the phytochemical compounds -- these give produce its color -- that help the immune system block cancer-causing substances from cycling through our bodies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Produce for Better Health Foundation say we should eat nine to 11 servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Taking supplements is not enough -- we need the complex interplay of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

These are the colors we should include in our diet each day:

Continue reading Colorful cancer prevention

Springing forward and falling back in time a cancer risk?

If you live in the northern hemisphere, we are fully into the fall season. In the southern hemisphere, they are enjoying spring, and looking forward to the upcoming summer. To maximize daylight hours, we turn our clocks ahead one hour each spring, and turn the clocks back one hour each fall. However, this has become a bit of a debate in Australia, as Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is digging in his heels, locking his knees, and crossing his arms against his chest in refusing to follow fellow countrymen in Western Australia when it comes to considering the policy of instituting daylight saving time.

Beattie is well-intentioned but ill-informed in his concern that the extra hour of light might increase the already high risk of skin cancer in Queensland. Adding an extra hour at the end of the day -- or the beginning of the day -- depending on how you want to view it, will not increase skin cancer risks resulting from excessive exposure to sunlight. The hours of the day when the sun is most damaging, and most dangerous in increasing skin cancer risks, is the middle of the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

According to The Skin Foundation, to reduce skin cancer risks, we need to protect ourselves year-round by staying out of the sun during peak hours of 10a.m. to 4p.m., by wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor SPF 15 or higher, wearing a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses, avoiding the use of tanning parlors and artificial tanning devices, keeping newborns out of the sun, teaching children good sun-protective practices, examining skin from head-to-toe once a month, having a professional examination annually, and avoiding sunburn.

For more information about skin cancer myths and fact, read Skin cancer myths debunked by dermatologists.

L'Oreal: unique new sunscreen offers greater skin protection

Sunscreen products containing Mexoryl SX or ecamsule, an ingredient designed to block the sun's harmful UVA rays, have been sold in Canada and Europe for over ten years, but have not been available here.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the over-the-counter sale of L'Oreal Anthelios SX sunscreen product containing ecamsule to consumers in the US.

While UVB rays are known to cause sunburn, UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin and are associated with an increased risk for basal and squamous cell cancers and melanoma skin cancer. Anthelios SX is made by the French cosmetics company L'Oreal. Mexoryl SX is owned by L'Oreal, and is only available in L'Oreal products.

Sunscreens might provide some protection from the harmful rays of the sun, and should be used when going out in the sun. Still your best bet is to shade yourself when spending any length of time in the sun and staying out of the sun during the peak hours of 10 AM to 4 PM when sun can cause the most skin damage.

Dimericine: morning after sunburn cream to prevent skin cancer

Dimericine, a lotion created to be used the day after a sunburn to protect against some forms of skin cancer, might win FDA approval in the next two years. It's not a magic bullet that allows sun worshippers to return to the old ways of tanning without consequence. Spend too much time in the sun and wrinkles are inevitable. The pain of a sunburn will still hurt even using this new cream. And skin cancer is still a risk -- perhaps just less so.

Dimericine is more of an emergency morning after measure, if you spend more time in the sun than you should the day before and have a burn as a result, or you missed a spot when applying the sunscreen lotion and were not aware until it was too late to prevent the sunburn. The cream will repair some of the damage to the skin a sunburn causes. If the cream is approved, and becomes available, experts still recommend that all the sun safety rules be followed when spending time in the sun. Sunscreen, wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, long sleeves, seeking shade and staying out of the sun during peak hours between 10 am and 4 pm.

To read more on how and why to practice sun safety, go to skin cancer prevention kits for kids, shading kids from the sun, and pediatricians need to educate parents about sun exposure risks.

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