Medical society launches skin cancer prevention campaign

“Don’t wait until you feel it on your skin”. It is with this warning that the Brazilian Society of Dermatology launched the annual Orange December campaign on skin cancer prevention. Throughout the month, various activities are planned. Among them, free joint efforts to identify new cases of the disease. The calls will be held next Saturday (3), from 9am to 3pm. In all, there will be approximately 100 stations registered and spread throughout Brazil. Information about the places of face-to-face care can be found on the website of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology. In addition to the mutirões, throughout the month, the campaign reinforces the need for the population to seek regular care from a dermatologist who can check from time to time if the skin has any suspicious lesions. Renato Marchiori Bakos, coordinator of the Department of Cutaneous Oncology of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology, reports that, even with asymmetric diameters, which change in size, in addition to having colors varying between light and dark, these lesions are often not noticeable by are in their initial phase. The expert points out that these lesions, which characterize skin cancer, are the result of accumulated exposure to sunlight throughout life, especially in the form that causes redness or sunburn. “It has been proven that the more intensity of sunlight in the early stages of life, the greater the risk of having the disease in the future. It’s not last summer’s sun that causes skin cancer. It is the accumulation of intense exposures and burns, that redness, peeling the skin, because this reaction ends up slowly damaging the DNA of the skin cells and leads to some mutation that later on will turn into cancer.” To avoid the disease, the expert gives tips on how to use sunscreen. “Avoid excessive loads of ultraviolet radiation by choosing more suitable times for outdoor activities. Especially avoid the hours from 9am to 3pm. If you are in the sun during the period of intensity, look for places with shade, use t-shirts and hats. In uncovered areas, it is important to use sunscreen or sunscreen, reapplied every 2 hours, with a protection factor of 30 or more.”

Agência Brasil