Health Care

By: Jake Bradley

Melanoma is known to be a fatal sort of skin cancer in which the affected person?s skin does not grow as expected. The extra abnormally grown cells might lead to a tumor or mass of skin. A skin tumor is not malignant or cancerous if it does not harm the organs and tissues close to the skin layers. Melanoma is primarily caused due to exposure to the harmful UV rays of the sun. This UV radiation hurt our DNA, and hence melanoma can be a genetic disorder too. DNA is the genetic material in our body, so once a person is suffering from melanoma he is likely to pass it on to the next generations too.

The first and foremost way to stay away from melanoma is to check if there are any of your ancestors who had melanoma. If you do have family history, regular skin check-up along with the preventive measures mentioned below must be undertaken to avoid the life-threatening disease. The fact that some of your relative was a patient of melanoma implies that you might have the damaged gene too. So it is better to be careful about such things.

For preventing melanoma, we must ensure that we limit our sun exposure to the minimum. Because a human being receives approximately eighty percent of his total life?s sun exposure till the age of 18, this must be started quite early in childhood. Those people who need to regularly work outdoors such as workers or others who spend lot of time in outdoor activities under the sun have greater sun exposure than those indoors. But people staying indoors should take care and not venture out continuously in the sun for long periods while on a vacation to avoid the risk of melanoma. This applies to people who wish to take a sun bath or get their skin tanned on a beach, as it may prove harmful for them.

Though it is easier said than done, we cannot totally block out sun exposure from our routine. Try to keep your child away from getting sunburn as it can be a contributing factor for melanoma. Direct and reflected sunlight should be avoided too. When you are going out in the sun, cover the exposed parts of your body to reduce the effect of UV rays of the sun. Lastly, another tip is to wear a good sunscreen and then step out of the house.

Do you need to go out in the sun often? It would be interesting to note that excessive exposure to the sun can cause a type of skin cancer called malignant melanoma. Find out how to prevent melanoma and be rest assured.



Diseases-and-Conditions Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com