“I hate it when people say they go in the sun to get Vitamin D. The evidence is squarely in that there are other ways to get it.” — d r . j u s t i n k o 54 South Bay Accent NORBERT VON DER GROEBEN Particularly disturbing is that skin cancer, traditionally considered an older person’s disease, is now showing up in other demographics— young white women in particular. A 2012 Mayo Clinic study found that first-time diagnosis of melanoma—the more rare but deadlier form of skin cancer—had increased eightfold among women ages 18 to 39 in the past four decades and fourfold among young men. The real tragedy is that skin cancer is so preventable. Studies suggest that close to 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancer is associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation or, in other words, tanning. And, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, just one bad burn when you were a child or five sunburns over the course of your life more than doubles your chance of developing melanoma. Thus what we need, experts say, is a big attitude adjustment. that omnipresent sun “Here in California, if you walk around with a cigarette, someone is bound to give you a dirty look. Maybe one day if you’re lying out in the sun without any protection, you’ll get a dirty look, too,” says Dr. Shyamali Mallick Singhal, cofounder and medical director of the El Camino Hospital Cancer Center, Mountain View. Singhal is a surgical oncologist who grew up in San Mateo. “It’s considered such a part of our culture to be brown here, whereas in Japan people walk under umbrellas to shield themselves,” she says. “The sun, we worship it all the time since we live in California. It may feel like it’s your best friend today, but it won’t be in the future.” Sunshine is so common in the South Bay that many of us don’t give it a second thought. “The thing I hear every day from patients is ‘I never go out in the sun,’” says Dr. Rick Noodleman, founder and medical director of Age Defying Dermatology in Campbell. “So I ask, ‘If so, how did you get here?’ For most people in California—and forget about going to the beach—you get sun every day, and it’s adding up.” Local medical experts interviewed for this article agree that the number and types of new cases appearing on their doorsteps is troubling. “I would call it a skin cancer epidemic,” says Dr. Justin Ko, co-chief of medical dermatology at Stanford Health Care (previously Stanford Hospital) and clinical assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. “Rates are skyrocketing across the country.” One case in point is Lynn Greene (patients in this article asked that their names be changed to protect medical confidentiality). This Saratoga mother of two and avid golfer went for what she thought was a regular check-up. “I wasn’t worried but the doctor said there was small spot above my lip, so he sent me to a specialized surgeon,” she recalls. It turned out that Greene had basal cell carcinoma and needed to also see a cosmetic surgeon after the cancerous area was removed. “I was shocked,” Greene says. “I had no idea. I didn’t have any physical pain, but there was a lot of emotional pain. I knew my face would never look as good as before.” Experts point to a number of reasons for the rising incident rates. While genetic factors—such as fair skin, eyes and hair color—do make you more prone to skin cancer, people of all skin tones and backgrounds can and are becoming victims.
South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2015
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