What is the Worst Kind of Cancer? The Surgeon General Talks Terminal Illness

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Acting Surgeon General Dr. Boris D. Lushniak says that despite the general decline of many kinds of cancers in America, that there is one citizens need to be more diligent in preventing: skin cancer. “In the last 35 years, we’ve seen a tripling of the number of cases of melanomas in this country,” he states, “and [skin cancer is one of] the most severe of cancers [and terminal illnesses]. And yet, there’s this 200% increase. It really causes alarm. There’s 63,000 cases of melanoma this year, of those, 9,000 people will die of melanoma.”

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The astounding thing is that 90 percent of skin cancers are caused by too much ultraviolet radiation, which sent Dr. Lushniak on a hunt for the UV culprits making us sick. “Exposure to sunlight and the other artificial sources [of ultraviolet light are to blame],” he says, “which includes tanning booths. I enjoy the outdoors and spending time in nature. So I need people to do that for the good of their physical and mental health. But at the same time, I need to emphasize the fact that sunlight is a source of that ultraviolet radiation and there are ways people can protect themselves from that sunlight.”

The country with the worst rise in skin cancer is, unsurprisingly, Australia. “It really had an incredible increase in skin cancers,” he says, “It’s [an] outdoor-oriented community and because of its placement in terms of being in an area with ozone issues, there was a lot of ultraviolet exposure. They really got aggressive over a decade ago with pushing the idea of protection and getting in shade.”

Dr. Boris D Lushniak.
(credit: milenio.com)

So what can Americans do to get pushy? Firstly, we can start cracking down on regulations at tanning centers, where Dr. Lushniak says some states have already made preventative cancer measures a priority by create restrictions for those under 18. Of course, on the simplest level, there’s one thing we can do every morning: dab on a bit of that waterproof, SPF 15+ sunscreen.

Read the article here in full.

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