Sólarlandaferðir í æsku auka líkurnar á sortuæxlum síðar á ævinni

Study indicates childhood vacations at the shore may increase melanoma risk later in life.

AFP

(2/4) reports, "Spending vacations at the beach during childhood may increase the risk of the deadly skin cancer melanoma later in life," according to a study published in the Feb. issue of the journal

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

.
        For the study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health "evaluated 681 children born in 1998 in Colorado, asking their parents about childhood vacation destinations and then conducting skin exams when the children were age seven to look for nevi" that "are a risk factor for developing malignant melanoma,"

HealthDay

(2/3, Doheny) explained. The investigators discovered that the number of "moles went up five percent for every vacation" the children "took [beginning at age one year]." Notably, the authors also found that "the moles seemed to increase despite sunscreen use," and suggested that "parents...skip or curtail waterside vacations when their children are young."
        "Though the study focused on children in Colorado," the authors say "that its results apply to white children in regions with low to moderate sun exposure around the world," Canada's

Toronto Star

(2/3, Gordon) reported. The authors also pointed out that "black children have only one-twentieth the risk of melanoma that white children have," and "little is known about the impact of sun exposure on skin cancer rates in Asian populations." In addition, the study "revealed a 19 percent higher risk for boys than girls, presumably because they're more likely to stay outdoors longer, and a greater risk for kids from families with high incomes, since they were more likely to go on beach vacations."
        In its Health Beat segment,

WLS-TV

Chicago (2/3), an ABC affiliate, noted that "experts recommend children be covered with a high SPF sunblock." In addition, youngsters should "stay out of the sun between 10" a.m. and two p.m. "during the day."
       

KOLO-TV

Nevada (2/3, 12:07 p.m. MT, Johnson), an ABC affiliate, explained in a HealthBytes segment, "Melanoma rates are on the rise in the United States - more than 62,000 Americans are now diagnosed each year."

Stress kann að hafa áhrif á gang sortuæxla

Stress may accelerate progression of malignant melanoma, researchers say.

AHN

(2/2, Young) reported that researchers from Ohio State University "say that stress can accelerate the progression of malignant melanoma, a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer." In fact, "even hearing the diagnosis could induce enough stress to amplify the progression of malignant melanoma," according to the paper published in the February issue of

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

. "About 48,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year and nearly 8,000 people die each year from the disease."
        For the study, investigators "exposed three melanoma cell lines to norepinephrine, a naturally occurring compound that functions as a stress hormone," New Zealand's

National Business Review

(2/3) added. They eventually found that "in the most aggressive and advanced form of the melanoma, there was a 2,000 percent increase in one protein, Interleukin-6, where in untreated samples IL-6 is usually undetectable." The team also "showed that once the norepinephrine molecule binds to receptors on the surface of cancer cells, it stimulates the release of the proteins that support angiogenesis and tumor growth." After confirming "that receptors were present in all three cell lines," the team began "testing what would happen when the receptors were blocked by common blood pressure medicine -- or so-called 'beta-blockers.'" During their tests of beta-blockers, researchers found that when the drug "bound to the receptors, production reduced significantly, indicating that using these types of medications in melanoma patients may slow the progression of the disease."

Óregluleg sólun kann að auka líkur húðkrabbameinum

ntermittent sun exposure may increase lifetime risks of certain skin cancers, research suggests.

In the

USA Today

(1/26) Your Health column, Kim Painter writes that "intermittent sun exposure" is what vacationers usually experience on holiday. Yet, a "history of such brief, intense sun blasts appears to raise lifetime risks of certain skin cancers, especially the most dangerous type, melanoma, says Marianne Berwick, an epidemiologist at the University of New Mexico." In fact, "those vacation sun soaks may be more dangerous than the constant, daily sun exposure that a farmer or construction worker gets." While the "relationship between skin cancers and sun exposure is complex and riddled with controversy," the "theory that a holiday sun blast carries special risk is gaining ground," and "one compelling recent study...found that young, white English women who had vacationed in hotter countries had more moles than women who had not." Furthermore, investigators "found excess moles were concentrated on the trunk and legs -- areas less likely to get the everyday English sun."

Sortuæxlum fjölgar í Bretlandi

U.K. passes Australia in number of annual melanoma deaths, article says.

Australia's

Herald Sun

(12/20, Miranda) reported that the U.K. "has passed Australia in the number of annual malignant melanoma deaths."  According to "figures released by Cancer Research U.K...the popularity of" vacations abroad in warm and sunny places "contributed to a massive rise in skin cancers, particularly among older people."  Currently, "more than 9500 people in the U.K. a year are now being diagnosed with malignant melanomas," and about 1,800 people die from that disease.  Still "another 500 Britons die each year from other forms of skin cancer."  The U.K. is now preparing "to launch a campaign to educate people about the dangers of sun-chasing holidays abroad."  Meanwhile, "the British Association of Dermatologists found because the weather was normally so bleak in the U.K., Britons desperate for a healthy glow overdid it and burnt on the few days it was bright."