• Question: can you trace people once youv'e looked at a particular skin type and tell those people they could be at risk of cancer and how does cancer form in the skin, what types of people are more at risk of skin cancer is it people who spend lots of time in the sun?

    Asked by rhino645 to Adam, Joanna, Louise S, Louise W, Marcus on 12 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Adam Paige

      Adam Paige answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Every one has a risk of skin cancer if they stay in the sun too long. The ultraviolet light in sunlight damages the DNA in our skin, and cells with damaged DNA may become a cancer.

      But people with very pale skin are most at risk, particular red headed people with pale skin and freckles. This is because the brown pigment in the skin (melanin) protects us from sunlight. Some people have more melanin and darker skin than others. And when we tan by gentle exposure to sunlight, we create more melanin that protects us. But lots of time in the sun without sun protection will mean we burn. And sun creams only last so long so we have to keep applying them. So keep covered, wear sun block, and minimise the time you spend in the sun and you will also have very low risks of skin cancer.

    • Photo: Joanna Giles

      Joanna Giles answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      Definitely stay safe in the sun 🙂 but don’t become a vampire and avoid it all together. Sunlight helps our bodies make vitamin D which is important to our health, especially for the bones 🙂

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