Skin cancer, also known as melanoma, has become more and more of a concern to humans today. Over the past couple of years 8,400 lives are lost due to this vicious disease in the United States alone. According to the article "Fighting Melanoma in the Mirror", written by Eric Sabo from the New York Times, there are many ways to help spot the signs before the sickness get too serious.
"Melanoma is the biggest no-brainer for screening," says Myles Cockburn, a medicine expert at the University of Southern California. The most simplest and direct method to check if you could be carrying this cancer is to simply face a mirror, completely naked, and check your skin for any suspicious moles from head to toe. Changes to the color, size or shape of any mole may also be an early sign, especially if someone has family with the history of skin cancer. If a melanoma growth is found early enough about 90% can just be surgically removed, but if the growth is left unchecked for long enough the chances of surviving this disease is said to be worse than for lung or colon cancer.
Reference: BY ERIC SABO
http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-melanoma-ess.html
3 comments:
I recently had a family member with a skin cancer cells on his nose. He had it removed and so far everything is good. I agree that it is important to check our bodies and any changes in our skin, because this is a popular type of cancer. Good blog!
This is great to get out to people, especially people our age. I have to check the back of my neck for moles often since I had radiation there. They always said any change at all could be something so anything you notice is good to check. I hope people read this and pay attention. Great Job!
I also had a family member who had melanoma who ended up dying from it, so i believe it is very important to check yourself and to visit the dermatologist regularly. This definitely seems to be a growing problem these days.
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