Dear 16 year old me

Melanoma! What comes to mind when you read this word?  Do you think of it as a deadly disease? In fact melanoma is the most  dangerous and the number one fetal type of skin cancer. It is a meligmant tumour of melanocytes. Melanocytes are a type of cells that line the outer layer of our skin. These cells produce pigments which add colour to our skin. When we tan, we expose our melanocytes to the sun’s UV rays and cause them to become more active. This is why we get tanned. However too much exposure to the sun can cause the over activation of these melanocytes which results in rapidly dividing cancerous cells.

Melanoma can affect not only the skin, but the eyes and mouth. It spreads fast unless caught early. If it spreads it can affect the liver, heart, and the brain. In 2010,  5,300 people were affected resulting in 920 lives lost by melanoma.  This type of cancer can affect everyone, however teens of sixteen years of age are very prone to this deadly type of cancer.

One of the major causes of melanoma is the use of tanning beds or exposure to to much sun. Scientists of the article  ‘‘A Sunbed Epidemic?’’ conducted a study when the reported number of melanoma cases increased in Iceland. Scientists investigated that the number of sunny days had increased and individuals who reported cases of melanoma had been traveling outdoors on those sunny days. Furthermore the number of people who used tanning beds were more likely to report symptoms of melanoma than those who did not use  tanning beds.

We have all heard the saying “Don’t forget to put on sunscreen;” many times. What if I told you that by just taking 5 minutes out of your day before you head out to rub sunscreen on your skin, you can protect yourself from this deadly disease. Now I know what most of you are thinking, we live in vancouver where is the sun?

The reality is that we don’t see many sunny days here but that doesn’t mean that we are still not exposed to the harmful rays of the sun. Even on cloudy days sun rays can have a harmful effect on our skin.

After reading this blog and watching the video, please take these messages.  Forget the healthy glow and avoid the tanning beds. Rub sunscreen  on every exposed part of your skin and check your skin for irregular signs of moles and spots. It you catch it early you can stop the spread.