Oasis Magazine - Cairns & Tropical North Queensland Issue 19 - Aug|Sep 2017 | Page 54

Prevention OF MELANOMA MEDICAL CAROLINE L. MacLEOD MD, MPH & TM Medical Director Every year there are over 13,000 new cases of melanoma diagnosed in Australia, which is double the rate reported in the United States. This is partly due to the hole in the ozone layer, which we need to continue to repair, but also our outdoor lifestyle. I don’t want to discourage because this is important in preventing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Even though individuals with red or ginger hair, freckled skin, or skin that can’t tan are at higher risk of melanoma, individuals with darker pigmentation get melanoma most notably on the soles of their feet, while Asians have more melanomas under their finger or toenails. If you have had skin cancer in the past, you have an increased risk of having skin cancers in the future. However, there are now treatments that can make you more resistant to skin cancer. Still, the number one preventive is using protective clothing - hats, gloves, and sunscreens. The sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outside and reapplied twenty minutes later and depending on the sunscreen reapplied 2-4 hours later. Products containing zinc give cover the widest spectrum of harmful ultraviolet light however no product protects against UVC radiation produced when welding which is why protective clothing, hats, goggles are so important. Sunglasses are important to protect against ocular melanoma as well as cataracts and age- related macular degeneration. Sunscreen works as shown by a recent study in Queensland where the Nambour Skin Cancer Prevention Trial group that used sunscreen daily for 10 years had half the melanomas and were less likely to have an invasive melanoma than the group that only used sunscreen when they thought needed. Children who used daily sunscreen for three years developed fewer moles than the group of children whose parents were given no advise about using sunscreen. As the number of moles increases, the risk of melanoma increases. Interestingly, the conversion of vitamin D in the skin was not lowered by sunscreen in the Nambour study. If melanoma is detected early, the cure rates are extremely high which is why I recommend monthly self-examination of the skin. You can do this at the same time as when examining the breast or testes, which also saves lives. You can incorporate a skin examination which is illustrated on www.skincaner.org. You are looking for anything new, changing, isolated or skin lesion with symptoms e.g. itchy, bleeding, sticking on clothing. The point is not to wait and consult your doctor and never hesitate to get a second opinion. Nodular melanoma can invade very quickly and I think patients may become complacent because they are having skin checks every few months. Ocean Health Clinic Caroline L. MacLeod M.D., M.P.H. & T.M. Paradise Village Shopping Centre 111 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove Medical Director General Practitioner with special interest in COSMETIC, PREVENTIVE & SKIN CANCER MEDICINE 54 | w w w. o a s i s m a g a z i n e . c o m . a u Pier Shopping Centre Ground Floor, Cairns b/h 0457 200 476 a/h 0423 553 140 [email protected]