Dr Christine Cheng

With summer approaching, many people living in the Northern hemisphere have booked their holiday in the sun. Armed with their favourite sun block, they feel immune to the ravages of premature ageing and skin cancer.

Experts are finally warning about the folly about relying on sun blocks without looking beyond SPF factor. We recently discussed the fact that sun block may be inadequate protection against melanoma. Sun block mis-labelling is back in the limelight again.

Part of the reason why UV-A is so poorly protected against is because there is no universally agreed upon method of grading UV-A protection. If the sun block is highly effective against UV-B rays, 60% of UV-A rays can still penetrate the barrier and cause deadly melanoma.

We are only starting to see the effects of this mis-advertisement. The many people who slathered on their sun protection and baked all summer in the 1980s and 1990s are finally starting to develop skin cancer.

This has led to the lawsuit against 5 of the largest sun screen manufacturers, including Nutrogena and Hawaiian Tropic.

Work is progressing towards the development of good UV-A protection and grading system.

In the meantime, check your sun block label to check for broad coverage for both UV-A and UV-B. Both anchor sun protection products at Simply Aesthetic have UV-A and UV-B coverage. We highly recommend Skin Tech’s Melablock-HSP and Bellewave’s UV Smart for their excellent protection.

Source: Times Online

Daily high dose Aspirin of 300mg can dramatically reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer is a big cause of morbidity in Singapore. The ability to reduce the risk of developing this disease with a simple Aspirin tablet could dramatically change a Nation’s health.

Daily treatment is needed for at least 5 years before the benefits are seen. The patients were treated in the 70s and 80s and followed up for the last 20 years. The treatment group saw a reduction in deaths from bowel cancer by 74%!

The risk reduction did not depend on age, sex, race or country of origin.

We recently saw that high doses of Aspirin can increase the risk of haemorrhagic stroke in the elderly. Aspirin can also increase the risk of gastro-intestinal bleeding.

We also know that low-dose Aspirin is cardio-protective. Further studies need to be done to see if Aspirin 75mg per day can protect against bowel cancer too.

In the meantime, daily Aspirin at 300mg should be considered for individuals at high risk of bowel cancer.

Malignant melanomas account for more than 75% of deaths from skin cancer. Some cases are missed because of common myths regarding the disease.

1) Non-Caucasians can develop malignant melanoma with excessive sun exposure
2) Atypical melanomas can be mis-diagnosed as benign (not all melanomas have variation in colour, asymmetrical borders or size greater than 6mm)
3) Some hair-bearing moles can be cancerous

Caucasians are 10 times more likely to develop melanoma than other races.

African-Americans often develop melanoma in non-sun-exposed parts of the body: nails, soles of feet, palms of hand, mouth, nasal passages and genitals!

Only 33% of African Americans develop melanoma in sun-exposed areas!

The development of melanoma in non-exposed areas of the body results in spread of the cancer before diagnosis, and a high fatality rate. One American dies of skin cancer every 65 minutes. Appropriate lifestyle behaviour and vigilance plays a large part in the prevention and early detection of this disease.

Source: PR Inside

Wearing sunprotective clothes and a hat and reducing sun exposure to a minimum should be preferred to sunscreens.

Often this solution is deemed to be unacceptable and sunscreens are usually the predominant mode of sun protection.
Sunscreens had been shown to protect against sunburn and less serious forms of skin cancer, said the experts. However, there was no conclusive proof that they prevented the potentially deadly melanoma skin cancer.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “Sunscreen is an effective tool, but it should not be used as the single method of sun protection.

Researchers have revealed that adequate protective clothing is more reliable at protecting against melanoma than sunblock alone.

Many people are lulled into a false sense of security and abuse low SPF sun protection during periods of sun exposure. The sensible use of sun block includes:

1. Choosing the right SPF level for the sun exposure level. SPF 15-30 is needed for normal indoor use.
2. Application 15-30 minutes before sun exposure.
3. Liberal even application over all sun exposed areas.
4. UV-A and UV-B protection. UV-B rays cause burning, but it is UV-A rays that cause skin cancers and premature ageing.
5. Reapply if exposure is prolonged and if you sweat or swim.
6. Choose a product that you can apply with ease. There are some that are non-greasy, absorb easily and smell wonderful!

Physical protection used in conjunction with a good sun block is ideal. Once again, sensible barrier choices are essential. I had a client who wore hats everywhere and was convinced she was protecting herself against the sun. However, the hats she preferred either had tiny rims so most of her face was not covered, or had large holes in the rim. Very pretty, but useless as far as sun protection is concerned.

Clothes can offer protection too. Again, clothes made of tightly weaved material is a more sensible choice.

Ultimately, common sense is essential. Some exposure with adequate protection and avoidance of prolonged exposure, particularly at the hottest times of day are vital.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

It might be time to get a little more natural light in your life as researchers suggest that vitamin D, which is produced by sun exposure, has a number of profound health benefits.

U.S. researchers have found a direct link between vitamin D and cancer prevention. Their four-year clinical trial found that women taking the vitamin had a 60-per-cent reduction in cancer incidence compared to those not taking it.

Reports that vitamin D deficiency have been linked to cancer, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes and osteoporosis should have people rushing to change their lifestyle. Supplementation is particularly important in temperate climates.

Optimise Your Vitamin D Levels:

1) Have a blood test to determine, then monitor, your vitamin D levels three or four times a year. Check for 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D levels, which should be between 125 and 150 nanomoles per litre.

2) Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D. How long you should stay outside depends on how much sun block your skin creates naturally. Fair-skinned people, especially blonds and redheads, need only about 20 minutes a day to produce the recommended levels. Those with darker skin could need five to 10 times longer. Never allow the skin to burn, Dr. Cannell advises. Vitamin D production is maximized before skin turns pink, and further exposure does not increase levels.

3) Only a few foods have naturally occurring levels of vitamin D, and usually in insignificant quantities. An adult would have to drink about 40 glasses of milk a day to get the recommended dose of vitamin D. Milk is a more adequate source for children.

Fatty fish like salmon, sardines and herring contain vitamin D, as do egg yolks, shiitake mushrooms and reindeer meat. Some juice and cheese companies also fortify their products with vitamin D. It is more effective for adults to go outside than to modify their diet.

4) Vitamin D3 cholecalciferol pills are available over the counter in most pharmacies and health-food stores. Take 2,000 international units of the supplement per day, and no more. It is possible to have too much vitamin D.

Drinking alcohol, even moderate amounts, is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer in women. A recent study found that 60 percent of breast cancer cases in women worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption. But the mechanism(s) of alcohol-induced breast cancer are poorly understood.

Drinking just two alcoholic drinks a day when you have breast cancer fuels the growth of tumours. Cancer patients are often just told to moderate drinking.

A University of Mississippi team found giving mice the equivalent of two to four drinks a day doubled the normal growth of a tumour after four weeks. The growth and progression of breast cancer by fueling the development of new blood vessels — a process called “angiogenesis.” It does this by boosting expression of a key growth factor known as vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF.

Dr. Jian-Wei Gu and colleagues from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson examined the effects of alcohol on tumor growth and progression of breast cancer in mice.

For 4 weeks, 6-week old female mice consumed regular drinking water or water containing 1 percent alcohol, which is equivalent to about 2 to 4 drinks in humans. In week 2, the animals were inoculated with mouse breast cancer cells.

“We found after about 4 weeks that breast tumor size almost doubled in mice that drank alcohol compared to control mice given plain water,” Gu noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. Moderate alcohol intake also caused a noteworthy increase in tumor blood vessels compared with no alcohol intake.

The team also observed a significant increase in VEGF levels in the tumors of mice consuming alcohol compared to the tumors of control mice.

Lead researcher Jian-Wei Gu said: “The vast majority of tumours result from over expressed VEGF. Every day, we produce a lot of cancer cells, but they don’t become bigger. But if the cells establish blood vessels, the tumour grows and strengthens, a process known as angiogenesis. Alcohol can induce tumour angiogenesis.”