Why Is There So Much Skin Cancer? Should Sun Be Avoided?

freal

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I read in the newspaper today, its just shocking. If you take the USA for example, it has 2 million diagnosed cases every year, around 50,000 are deadly. That is a shocking number. Number on killer among all the cancers. Thats one in 150 has one.

But skin cancer are much higher in northern states, weird?
 

tara

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Melanomas tend to be deadly. The basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas have good odds of treatment and recovery. I know several people how have had the latter.

I think Peat has said the more deadly ones are not so sunshine dependent.

Last time I had spots check by an expert, he paid particular attention to my feet, saying that was a common place for trouble. I'm guessing, but he didn't say, that they are often hidden from sun, and more peripheral and more prone to cold, so perhaps more susceptible.

Do the statistics you read about northern states control for skin colour? Is it just that there are disproportionately more of us pale face mutants with less protective melanin up there? Or maybe getting less sunshine (light and warmth) undermines health and resistance?

In the south, the depletion of the ozone layer above Antarctica makes for greater UV exposure than closer to the equator. Is there an ozone hole over the Arctic too?

My understanding is that some UV is useful for the skin to be able to generate vit-D, but too much has damaging effects. The skin protects itself by developing a tan. The red spectrum of sunlight is very useful, partly because this is what restores the cytochrome C oxidase enzyme after it runs down during darkness. This enzyme is a key one in oxidative metabolism.

So sunshine is great, but it is good to avoid staying out long enough to get burned and/or to protect with clothes/safeish sunscreens etc. Peat has suggested several diet tactics that affect susceptibility: PUFA makes skin more vulnerable; coffee, niacinamide, SFAs make it less so.

There are threads about sun protection, including sunscreens, solban.
 

schultz

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freal said:
I read in the newspaper today, its just shocking. If you take the USA for example, it has 2 million diagnosed cases every year, around 50,000 are deadly. That is a shocking number. Number on killer among all the cancers. Thats one in 150 has one.

But skin cancer are much higher in northern states, weird?

I'm guessing it's a combination of a high PUFA diet and people only going out into the sun once in a while - with no tolerance built up - and getting burned.

Sunburn inflammation is mainly caused by eicosanoids, which are made from various PUFA's. It may be that it is actually the sunburn that is the problem, rather than just being out in the sun. People are so scared of the sun now it's ridiculous.
 

mt_dreams

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I don't have stats to combat, but I'm pretty sure cancers like breast, prostate, colon, lung are all more deadly than melanoma ... especially for non-whites.

Also, death rate has not risen as much as other cancers, just total diagnosed. What used to be a regular skin liaison, is now considered cancerous. This means more money for patent holders for the mela chemo & treatment, as well as more funding for hospitals to put towards testing.

people in the north get this more often mostly due to the low level of vitamin D in their body, though there's probably more to this.

If you're not healthy (and not getting adequate amounts of certain vit/min), the sun can be quite damaging. The whole sun-scare initiative 30 years back was really only for white people who happen to be near the equator, yet it did a pretty good job freaking everyone out to the point that even people here in Canada actually want to slather on a tub of sunscreen at the first sight of sun.
 

ilovethesea

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Ray Peat wrote about sunscreen in one of the old newsletters. http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2012/0 ... tain-life/

This part is especially interesting:

For example, several recent studies have found that the
sun-blockers, which decrease the ordinary skin damage caused by
ultraviolet rays, actually increase the risk of developing
melanoma, by causing mutations when the cells’ chromosomes interact
with the sunscreen and the light. (Something similar happens in the
disease, porphyria. A pigment that accumulates causes the skin to
become very sensitive to the sun. Estrogen is known to intensify
the disease.)

Even natural colored compounds, which have sometimes been used in
suntan lotions, should be avoided, since they might be able to
transmit the energy of light to the chromosomes, causing mutations.
 

jyb

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ilovethesea said:
Even natural colored compounds, which have sometimes been used in
suntan lotions, should be avoided, since they might be able to
transmit the energy of light to the chromosomes, causing mutations.

Wow, I wonder if those Methylene Blue + Red Light skin treatments could actually be harmful. It works by stressing cells so that weak ones die, but in light of this quote I wonder if it's safe at all.
 

Peat's_Girl

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But wrinkles!!!... D;

And how would you build tolerance as a moon-faced creature, hiding from the sun and slathering itself with SPF50+ since the young age of 18? :(

Nosferatu-the-creeper.jpg
 

Peat's_Girl

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Also, not sure if there should be a separate thread for this (or there's already one), but does Dr. Peat ever talk about topical application of coconut oil on the skin for sun protection? I've often heard about it being used for that purpose.

Another question, is Peat implying that sunblocks (with minerals like zinc and titanium oxide) are worse than chemical ones (which are only screen some rays but don't block them)?
 

uuy8778yyi

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can anyone answer the simple question ?

is astaxanthin a safe supplement and what is its interaction with PUFAs ?

astaxanthin prevents sunburn, so I assume it has a good interaction with pufa
 

mt_dreams

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uuy8778yyi said:
can anyone answer the simple question ?

is astaxanthin a safe supplement and what is its interaction with PUFAs ?

astaxanthin prevents sunburn, so I assume it has a good interaction with pufa

Since you've asked twice I'll pass on what little I know.
Shrimp have about 5% to that of natural alge supplementation. It's a cartenoid, but not retinol producing. Salmon is coloured with it (every region has a different shade of colouring), and possibly meats as well.
My concern would be the interaction of the cartenoid, and if any of the liquid is pufa rich. Other than that it seems harmless, and I had good success with it pre-peat days where I couldn't stay in the sun for more than a couple of min.
 

uuy8778yyi

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thank you

I thought sunburn was PUFA connected though

why did you stop astaxanthin ?
 

jyb

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mt_dreams said:
If you're not healthy (and not getting adequate amounts of certain vit/min), the sun can be quite damaging. The whole sun-scare initiative 30 years back was really only for white people who happen to be near the equator, yet it did a pretty good job freaking everyone out to the point that even people here in Canada actually want to slather on a tub of sunscreen at the first sight of sun.

Do you think the absence of burning pain or really red marks (during or after any exposure) are sufficient to judge safety? As summer goes on, the skin will tan gradually for protection, but if none of those inflammatory sign show up I wonder if that always means the exposure is safe enough. And by safe enough I don't just mean against cancer, but including healthy skin that looks normal for one's age.
 

peatypie

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I can speak from personal experience. Before Peating I bought into the hype about fish oil. I took fish oil supplements, put flax oil in my smoothie and consumed salmon. I look back now in horror at how I was so gullible. I have always been in the sun, Trips to Mexico, boating as a kid. I started getting skin cancers...first on my lower leg and then on my chest, arm, and one on my face. I had 5 surgeries to remove them...then I started treating myself with black salve. The one on my face was frightening. I was not going to see the doctor because I knew it was cancer - it was growing so fast and was painful. I was afraid of being disfigured with surgery. I used the black salve and it reacted immediately. I had a red swollen face for six days! But it worked. Today you can barely see the scar.

I looked for answers. I strongly felt I was consuming or doing something that was creating a trigger. I eventually found many articles challenging the fish oil hype, including Ray Peat's article. I changed things. Stopped the fish oil, the flax, the salmon. Started eating a more Peat friendly diet and the skin cancers just stopped. Where once I was getting a new one every month I have had none for two years.

So the answer to your questions...for me... is PUFA oxidation when exposed to sunlight.
 

pboy

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well now that its almost summer, where I live its in the 90's...piercing sunlight, and I love it. Everyone I see and talk to is all upset and like...almost offended, like...oh, its summer again..it sso hot...and complaining. Meanwhile it was rainy and gloomy cloudy for the past 3 months, which I hated, but they all liked! When im driving round or walking around..everyone has sunglasses on, has head down squinting, even umbrellas and visors and run like from their car..or move fast, into indoors, to protect from the sun. I don't get it..the sun feels almost better than anything to me, and when its at its most powerful and bright im the happiest and love it. People used to joke at the place I worked at, like the outdoor duties they'd gladly let me do them casue I loved it and everyone else hated it, and that I wouldn't sweat...lol, which was kinda true. I don't know what the casue is...it might be PUFA, but I think theres more to it than that...I somehow think too its like, an allowing thing, a metaphysical thing...hard to explain. The sun to me represents like a judge in a sense, and its either rewarding or condemning, lol...that's how it seems. The more rigid and closed off and just a nasty or dragging draining energy someone has, the more they're irritated by the sun. The more uplifting and positive someone is, and less of a drain on energy, the more they tend to like the sun, like kids also. I observe a lot and draw connections, all of that could also be related to estrogen...I think the more estrogen, the less sun is desirable and a stress, gives the headache and all. I can tell cause when id drink too much plain water and get to the point of estrogen, the sun would seem like 10x brighter and id almost have to shield eyes...to see, where as now, normally...I can face into the sunlight and still drive and still see without problem, with a smile. And then pufa and estrogen are related...so its, probably combo of both of those plus maybe more. It definitely should not be avoided. And also, I don't burn now...I tan within like 5 minutes and it just stays like that...no matter how long im in the sun
 

mt_dreams

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jyb said:
Do you think the absence of burning pain or really red marks (during or after any exposure) are sufficient to judge safety? As summer goes on, the skin will tan gradually for protection, but if none of those inflammatory sign show up I wonder if that always means the exposure is safe enough. And by safe enough I don't just mean against cancer, but including healthy skin that looks normal for one's age.

I live in a region where I only have to use sunscreen for maybe 1 months out of the year. During these days, there's an obvious burning sensation I can feel when I'm in the sun for more than three hours without sunscreen, especially during mid-day. For the rest of the year I will not feel this even if I'm in the sun all day. I turn pink, but by the next morning I'm back to baseline. Even though I do not burn, there are drawbacks I experience when getting too much sun including having to sleep a couple of more hours on heavy sun days, as well as having to up my nutrients & liquid or I end up with the shakes by evening. I use sleep history from previous extended sun exposure days to gauge how long I want to spend in the sun on any given day.
 

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