May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Along with regular entries about beauty and other fun, girly things, I am going to provide information about skin cancer, how to prevent it, what to look for, and a whole lot of other things to hopefully get you to think about your skin and health before heading out in the sun.Today, I give you some statistics about skin cancer from The Skin Cancer Foundation:
- Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.
- Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer. More than 250,000 cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in approximately 2,500 deaths each year.
- One in 5 Americans and one in 3 Caucasians will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
- More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure.
- A person's risk for skin cancer doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns.
MELANOMA
- Approximately 59,940 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, with nearly 8,110 resulting in death.
| Incidence | Deaths | |
| Men: | 33,910 | 5,220 |
| Women: | 26,030 | 2,890 |
- More than 20 people die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma.
- 1 in 59 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime.
- One blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.
- While melanoma is uncommon in African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is most deadly for these populations because it is more likely to develop undetected.
- Survival rate for patients with early detection is about 99%. The survival rate falls to between 15 and 65% or higher, depending on how far the disease has spread.
- The cost of melanoma in the U.S. is more than $740 million annually.
- Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Exposure to tanning beds before age 35 increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.
- Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. annually; 2.3 million of them are teens.
- On an average day in the U.S., more than 1 million people tan in tanning salons; 70% are Caucasian women aged 16-49.
- People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.
- Occasional use of tanning beds almost triples the chances of developing melanoma.
- New high-pressure sunlamps emit doses of UVR that can be as much as 15 times that of the sun
- The indoor tanning industry has an estimated revenue of $5 billion.
- Up to 90 percent of the visible skin changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun. These changes can be seen as early as in one's 20's.
Bottom line: be smart. Embrace your inner pale goddess. That "healthy glow" really isn't that healthy.
