Quitting smoking is especially important because the bad habit exposes you to a variety of different cancers, skin cancer included. While most people associate smoking with lung cancer, the carcinogens in cigarettes can contribute to the development of skin cancer—the most common form of cancer in human beings.
Skin cancer can be deadly, particularly when it is not detected earlier enough. It can therefore spread throughout the body until it essentially destroys all systems in its path. Aside from cigarette carcinogens, skin cancer can be caused by over-exposure to the sun, radiation, and ageing.
There are three types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. All three pose a serious risk to your health, but melanoma is the most dangerous.
Skin cancer is relatively easy to detect because it appears as skin discolouration and/or abnormally coloured or shaped moles. Most skin cancer victims discover the condition on their own just by examining their skin. A diagnosis, however, can only be made by a doctor. But the problem is not that skin cancer is difficult to detect; the problem is that people simply forget that skin cancer is a deadly threat and thus do not get treatment for their cancerous growths until it is too late.
So is there a cure for skin cancer? A study conducted by researchers from Rush University Medical School in Chicago showed that a vaccine had been developed that was able to completely cure 16% of users infected with advanced melanoma. For the rest of the group, the vaccine greatly improved the user’s chance of remission. Still, this number is relatively small. So banking on a cure is not the way to go when dealing with skin cancer. The best way to avoid skin cancer is by staying out of the sun, wearing sunscreen regularly and avoiding exposure to unnecessary carcinogens like cigarette smoke. Checking your skin regularly as well as slathering yourself in aloe vera and vitamin D cream also helps.
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