May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month!

Check with your local hospital for a free Skin Cancer Screening. Many hospitals are having the free screenings during this month to help people become aware of Skin Cancer.

Summer is Suntan season and it is so important to use the proper Suntan Lotion with a good sun screen, SPF of 30 or more, to prevent skin damage from the sun. Children are especially susceptible to skin damage and early sunburns can lead to skin cancer in later life.

In an article posted on the American Cancer Educational Services site, Jodi Mailaner-Farrel of the Miami Herald gives you the following information. Five things you didn't know about skin cancer.

1. We know wearing sunscreen daily is one of the best ways to prevent skin cancer, but now evidence suggests that what we eat could help reduce the risk, too. In a study published this year in the journal In Vivo, vitamin C, green tea and an amino acid found in beans, soybeans, lentils, meat, poultry, fish and dairy suppressed melanoma tumor growth in mice.

2. You don't have to get burned to increase your risk of skin cancer. Sun damage is incremental and accumulates over a lifetime. Don't think throwing a shirt on will help you. The average white T-shirt has a sun protection factor (SPF) of only 4 to 6!

3. Although 75% of skin cancer cases aren't deadly, some 10,000 people are still expected to die from skin cancer this year alone. Half of all cases of melanoma, the most dangerous kind, occur in people under age 57.

4. Dermatologists recommend monthly self monitoring of freckles, mole and birthmarks for any changes over time. Use a hand held mirror to inspect hard to see areas. One third of melanomas in men occur on the back.

5. The upper and lower eyelids are two of the most common places on the face where skin cancer can occur, according to the skin cancer foundation. Wear wrap around, UV blocking sun glasses for the best protection or a hat with a three to four inch wide brim.

I found them very interesting and will keep them in mind when going out in the sun.

Please take care of your children and yourselves this spring and summer. (really all year round as sun refection on snow can be very bad also)

Leigh

New Recommendations for Breast Cancer Screening

I know everyone has heard about the new guidelines for breast cancer screening by now.

The stupidest thing I have ever heard is that self-exams don't work. Self-Exam saved my life!

The recommendation is that women from 40-50 do not need mammograms unless they are in a high risk group. Being a woman is a high risk group for breast cancer.

It has been proven that the established recommendations work, Less women are dying from breast cancer. This is directly related to the self-exams, mammograms and information that women are receiving.

Is this just another way for the insurance companies not to pay for mammograms?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't know about you but I will continue doing my self-exams and recommend to all my friends and family that they continue doing their self-exams and have their yearly mammograms.

I believe all women should have a baseline mammogram at the age of 40 no matter what the new recommendations are.

Please take care of yourselves and have a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Leigh

ps: if you know anyone who collects Owls I have some great artwork in my ebay store , check it out here.

A Shift in Cancer Screening Benefits - ACS

As reported in the Nov 2, 2009 issue of Time magazine

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The American Cancer Society announced that the benefits of prostrate - and breast-cancer screenings have been overstated, after a study found that such tests often detect nonlethal tumors but fail to catch faster-spreading malignant growths. Screenings for colon and cervical cancers, on the other hand, have led to a marked decline in late-stage cancers.



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This article is short but to the point. We are our best screeners. Self Exam is a must for all women and men. Breast cancer can be fast growing and easily grow between your yearly exams. Mine grew to 2cm within 2 months. If you check yourself every month you have a greater chance of feeling any changes before anyone else. If you do feel something, have it checked immediately. I would rather have a test say something is nonlethal than to wait and have a malignancy growing through my body.



Please do all you can to protect yourself from this killer.



Good health to us all

Leigh