Preventable Skin Cancer Epidemic

There is an epidemic going on right now that most people do not even notice. It is skin cancer. Children who grow up exposed to more UVA and UVB rays for their entire life have a much greater chance of getting skin cancer in their lifetimes. That does not mean the rest of us are not at risk, it is just a little lower than for children.


This epidemic of skin cancer is happening all over the world and affects dark-skinned people as well as pale-skinned people. The worst part about it is that it does not have to be so bad.


Preventive measures can greatly lower your risk of getting skin cancer. The simplest and most obvious prevention for skin cancer is to cover up when you go out in the sun. This means wearing a hat, sunglasses, long sleeves and covering your legs. There should be sun block on any skin not covered.


Your sunglasses should block 100% of UVA and UVB rays from reaching your eyes. They should wrap around or have shields to prevent UVA  and UVB from reaching you around the sides, bottom and top of the lenses.


Skin specialists recommend that people stay out of the sun between the hours of 10 am. to 4 pm. It is suggested that you wear a sun block, reapplying it frequently. An SPF, or Sun Protection Factor, of 15 or higher used to be recommended. It seems to have gone up lately. SPF goes up as high as 110.


There seems to be disagreement among experts as to the safety of some kinds of sun blocks. Some are believed to cause blocked pores, resulting in acne, blackheads, etc. The chemicals in some kinds of sun block are questioned by some people. Acne is not as bad as skin cancer. Read up on what kind of sun block you like the best and use it.


The CDC (Center for Disease Control -they handle epidemics), and the National Cancer Society did a study that shows there is an epidemic of cancer among young adults. This is due mostly to lack of protection from sunburn and sun exposure and use of tanning beds. The World Health Organization declared tanning devices to be carcinogenic (they cause cancer).


What good will it do to be prepared for emergencies if you die of malignant melanoma or have to have cancers cut off of you all the time? My father did not even use a tanning bed, and he has dark skin. He had over 150 skin cancers cut off of his face and neck. Younger people can expect worse than that.


I could not resist sharing a Saturday Night Live skit about "the tanning mom".


http://www.pleasantmorningbuzz.com/blog/51020121


Here is a link to the CDC site about skin cancer: 


http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/

The information above does not take into account the holes in the ozone layers above the Arctic and Antarctic areas. When one of the holes in the ozone layer passes over areas where people live, the rate of skin cancer skyrockets.


Australia is currently dealing with a very high rate of skin cancer due to having the Antarctic hole in the ozone layer above their country so much of the time. 


Australia schools will not allow children to attend schools unless they come to school wearing hats, sunglasses and long sleeves and have their legs covered. The USA and other countries should follow their good example.

Stay Healthy In An Epidemic

Just because an epidemic comes to your area does not mean you have to get sick. There are ways for you to stay healthy and not catch whatever is going around. You can practice with the yearly flu season.


Do your regular epidemic prevention measures. If you don't get the flu or at least don't get it as bad as everyone else does, your epidemic prevention is working. If you get the flu, you know you have a little more work to do on your epidemic prevention techniques.


Here are some of the epidemic prevention measures you should be doing:


1. Train yourself and your loved ones to not touch yourself, especially on exposed mucous membrane areas such as eyes, nose and mouth. This is especially important in public places.


2. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. (Some bacteria have become resistant to the alcohol in hand sanitizers.) This needs to be done frequently especially when in public places and as soon as you get home.


3. Thoroughly cleanse all surfaces that are touched often, by many hands, daily. These are things like doorknobs light switches and the plates around them, water faucets and handles, and toilet flush handles. Look around your home and think about what is touched a lot. This should be done daily. 


4. Carry a small bar or partial bar of soap with you. Public restrooms are frequently out of soap.


I believe a steamer and microfiber cloths are the best way to do this. This is because microfiber cloths are naturally antibacterial. They also clean well with only water. This can save you a lot of money and keep a lot of dangerous chemicals out of your home and out of you.


The steamer is another item that kills even more bad disease causing things than the microfiber cloths. It does not require extra poisonous and expensive chemicals either. I believe the vapor steamers are the best because the steam that comes out of them is hotter and kills germs better. The areas you clean also dry faster after you use the vapor steamers, if that matters to you.


They have hand held steamers and ones that have wheels that roll around behind you. Since you will be using this tool a lot, you may want to pay more for the rolling one. Some of the hand held ones are not too heavy, but that means you have to stop and refill them often.


When I use mine, (a hand held one,) I hold the steamer in my right hand and a microfiber cloth in my left hand and scrub and wipe with the microfiber cloth after I steam. It is easy and fast to do this way.


I do the daily cleansing and may not scrub or wipe with the microfiber for this part of my disease prevention. The rest of my cleaning is done less frequently and involves scrubbing with the microfiber cloths. How often you do this part of your cleaning depends on what you think is needed.  


If an item or area gets frequent, heavy use, it would be better to clean it more often. If you eat daily on your dining room table that should be cleaned daily. If you eat daily on trays in front of the TV, then those should get the daily cleaning, for example. If you use your dining room table once a week, then once a week is plenty for it.


Since I got my microfiber cloths and steamer, I have saved enough money on cleaning supplies to make a noticeable difference in my budget. I rarely get cold and flu either since I got them. That is worth a lot more than money to me. Knowing that this gives me a better chance during an epidemic gives me peace of mind that is priceless as well.