Can Tattoo Inks Cause Skin Cancer?

It seems today most people obtaining tattoos are more concerned about the quality of the tattoo and the effect of aging altering the tattoo, than any potential long term health risks. The health dangers associated with being injected by hundreds of needles into the dermis or the inner layer of the skin are widely publicised and most tattoo artists take these issues very seriously. We have all heard about Aids and Hep C, but are you aware of the current debate on the possible skin cancer risks associated with tattoo inks?

Recent years have seen an increase in stories associated with the potential of getting skin cancer from tattoo inks. Limited studies taken to date have not confirmed a direct link between cancer and tattoo inks..

Phthalates and other chemical ingredients used in tattoo inks have raised questions about the long term risks on our health such as skin cancer.It has been reported that some forms of phthalates are believed to have the potential to disrupt testosterone or mimic estrogen. Phthalate exposure has been identified to possible sperm defects and altered thyroid hormones. The phthalates in tattoo inks are believed to be cleared from the body within hours unlike many other forms of phthalate exposure. A study reported that Phthalates applied to the skin in a lotion were absorbed and metabolised and the same thing is likely to happen with the phthalates in tattoo inks. It would be well advised for pregnant and nursing women to avoid any exposure to phthalates.

Injecting tattoo inks, containing exogenous pigments, into the dermis creates a unique situation, due to the large amount of metallic salts and organic dyes remain in the skin for a lifetime. The potential carcinogenic risks of tattoo inks remain debatable. Several studies have identified the presence of potential carcinogenic or procarcinogenic products in tattoo inks.One chemical commonly used in black tattoo ink called benzo(a)pyrene is known to be a potent carcinogen that causes skin cancer in animal tests. As tattooing injects inks such asbenzo(a)pyrene directly into the dermis damaging the skin. You could conclude it may contribute to skin cancer.

Scientists and health professionals continue to debate the possible link between tattoo inks and cancer. In the last forty years there have only been 50 documented cases of squamous cell carcinoma, malignant skin melanoma or basal cell carcinoma with possible connections to tattoos, compared to the millions of tattoos obtained. Epidemiological studies on the effects of tattoo ink could be taken, although they would not be easy. A large number of tattooed people would have to be monitored over a long period of time to see whether they developed problems such as skin cancer near their tattoos. The low number of reported skin cancers arising in tattoos could be considered coincidental.

Further in depth studies will need to be carried out to give more conclusive evidence on the effects of tattoo ink and the cancer risks associated. The FDA is growing more concerned about the ingredients in tattoo ink. In the early 2000's, the FDA received a large number of complaints associated with giving and receiving tattoos. Since then the FDA has commenced more research into the chemical components of tattoo inks. The FDA is investigating how the body breaks down the tattoo ink as it fades over time. Is the body absorbing the ink or is it fading from sun exposure? A common pigment in yellow tattoo inks, Pigment Yellow 74, is believed to be a risk of being broken down by the body.

When skin cells containing tattoo inks are killed by sunlight or laser light, the tattoo inks break down and could possibly spread throughout the body. It is believed that tattoo inks could spread into lymph nodes whether this has unknown health concerns or not is still unknown. Our lymph nodes filtering out disease-causing organisms any interference in that process could have devastating effects on our health.

It is recommended not to have a tattoo placed too close to a mole. Changes occurring in a mole such as asymmetry, border, color, size, shape, texture are all warning signs of a possible melanoma or another skin cancer. Ensure all moles are left completely visible to prevent possible delays in detecting any changes. When a melanoma is discovered early it is usually curable where as more advanced melanomas are far harder to cure. A tattoo covering a mole could delay detection and be extremely dangerous even life threatening. If you get a tattoo, make sure it is placed a good distance from any mole. This is especially important for people who have multiple moles or dysplastic nevus (atypical mole) syndrome, due to the increased risk of developing melanoma, potentially within one of their moles.

It's imperative to be extremely diligent in caring for our skin correctly after a tattoo and monitor any changes that may occur to the skin. Our skin is the largest organ of the body and has many important functions. It protective us against injury and disease, regulates our temperature and maintains our bodies hydration. There are three layers to our skin the first layers is the epidermis the outer layer of the skin. The second layer is the dermis or the inner layer and the third layer is the subcutaneous fat layer.

Cancer is a disease of the body's cells. Normally the body's cells grow and divide in an orderly fashion. Some cells may grow and divide abnormally growing into a lump, a tumour. Tumours can be non-cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Benign tumours do not spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells in a malignant tumour have the ability to spread to over areas in the body, if left untreated. These cells can destroy surrounding tissue and break away from the original cancer, affecting other organs in the body. These cells can then form another tumour referred to as a secondary cancer.

Skin cancer begins in the basal layer of the epidermis. There are three main types of skin cancer basal cell carcinoma; squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Melanomas start in the pigment cells while basal and squamous cell carcinomas develop from the epidermal cells. Basal cell carcinomas are the most common but least dangerous type of skin cancer. They grow slowly but if left untreated, a deep ulcer can occur. Fortunately they very rarely spread to other parts of the body. Basal cell carcinomas are most commonly found on the face, neck and upper trunk. They appear as a lump or scaly area and are pale, pearly or red in colour. Squamous cell carcinomas are less common but more dangerous. They typically grow over a period of weeks to months. These cancers may spread to other parts of the body if not treated immediately. Squamous cell carcinomas appear on areas of skin most often exposed to the sun. They have scaling, red areas which may bleed easily and ulcerate, looking like an unhealing sore. The major cause of these skin cancers is sun exposure for years. Melanoma is the rarest but most dangerous skin cancer. It is often a fast growing cancer which if left untreated can spread quickly to other parts of the body to form secondary cancers. Melanomas can appear anywhere on the body. The first sign of a melanoma is usually a change in a freckle or mole, or the appearance of a new spot. Changes in size, shape or colour are normally seen over a period of several weeks to months. Melanoma typically appears from adolescence onwards, most commonly seen between 30 and 50 years of age.

Any sign of a crusty, non-healing sore, a small lump which is red, pale or pearly in colour, or a new spot, freckle or mole changing in colour, thickness or shape over a period of several weeks to months. Any spots that range from dark brown to black, red or blue-black should be checked by a doctor immediately. A very high per cent of basal and squamous cell carcinomas that are found and treated early are cured.

If you have any concerns regarding the health of your skin or tattoo seek professional medical advice immediately, it's better to be safe than sorry.By Richard Miles

Manicure - Top Tips for Healthy Nails

A manicure is a beauty treatment for your fingernails and hands. In its simplest form a manicure involves shaping and filing of the nails followed by the application of nail polish.

Other types of manicure may include specific treatments aimed at softening the hands and stimulating nail growth.

Getting to Know Your Nails

Your nails can tell a lot about your body's internal health. Healthy nails suggest a healthy body, while ridged; dented, unusually colored or shaped nails can be a sign of ill health.

Nails protect the sensitive skin of the fingertips and toes from injury and are made up of layers of protein called keratin.

Each nail comprises:-

o Nail plate - the visible hard portion you see

o Nail folds - the surrounding skin that frames the plate on three sides

o Nail bed - the skin beneath the nail plate

o Cuticle - the tissue that overlaps the nail plate at the base

o Matrix - the hidden area under the cuticle where growth takes place

o Lunula - the half moon shape at the base of the nail plate

Types of Manicure

There are various types of manicure available.

During a regular manicure, nails are first shaped, cuticle remover or conditioner applied and then the fingertips and hands placed in warm soapy water and left to soften for about ten minutes.

The hands are removed and dried before the cuticles are gently pushed back with an orange stick.

Nails are buffed from cuticle to tip and then lotion applied to the entire hand. Some manicurists will spend some time massages the lotion into the hands.

All traces of oils will be removed before applying polish. Polish will include a base coat followed by two or three coats of your chosen color, and then finished of with a top coat.

If having a French manicure, the tips of nail are painted white and when dry the entire nail is painted with translucent shell pink polish.

A French manicure is elegant and is suitable for both day and evening.

Paraffin Wax Manicure

Paraffin wax is warmed and the hands dipped repeatedly in the warmed liquid until a thick coating is formed. The hands are then wrapped in plastic film and covered with a towel to retain the warmth.

Hands remain wrapped for approximately 15 minutes. After the towel, plastic and paraffin wax is removed, the manicure continues in the normal way.

A paraffin wax manicure conditions and moisturizes the skin and is beneficial if your hands are sore, stressed or tired or of you just feel like being pampered.

Hot Oil Manicure

Hot oil is used to soften the cuticles before being cleaned and neatened. This treatment is popular with men seeking a manicure and is recommended if you have extremely dry hands or nails.

Attending a Manicure

When going for a manicure ensure that the working area is clean and that all tools are properly sanitized. New tools such as orange sticks, emery boards and clean towels should be used.

The use of un-sterilized tools can transmit viral infections.

Regular Manicure - Keeping Your Nails Healthy

Nails grow at the rate of about 0.05 to 1.2 millimeters per week and a regular manicure can keep your
nails in tip top condition.

Along with a regular manicure, a high protein diet can help your nails grow stronger and healthier.
Between visits to your manicurist you can ensure the health of your nails by:

o Keeping nails clean and dry - this helps to keep bacteria and other infectious organisms from collecting under the nail.

o Keeping the use of nail polish remover to a minimum as it can dry out your nails and cuticles.

A manicure is healthy and will make you look your best and remember most guys love great nails to

By Kelly Price

Sunburn - Skin Cancer and Aging of the Skin

The experience of sunburn can be a very efficient (i.e. painful) reminder to heed adequate protection on future occasions. However more importantly, it should be a reminder of the long-term effects of sun exposure on our bodies and health - which can include aging of the skin and skin cancer.

In order to more fully understand these consequences, let's take a look at exactly what sunburn is, its symptoms and its effect on the body.

Sunburn results when the amount of exposure to the sun, or other ultraviolet light source (e.g. tanning lamps and welding arcs etc.), exceeds the ability of the body's protective pigment, melanin, to protect the skin. Melanin content varies greatly, but in general darker skinned people have more melanin than lighter skinned. (Although fairer skinned people are generally more prone to getting sunburn than darker skinned people, this certainly does not exclude the latter from risk.)

Sunburn destroys cells in the outer layer of the skin, damaging tiny blood vessels underneath. Burns deeper into the skin's layers also damage elastic fibers in the skin, which over time and with repeated sun overexposure, can result in the appearance of yellowish, wrinkled skin.

The damage to skin cells from UV exposure (either sunlight or tanning lamps etc.) can also include damage to their DNA. It's this repeated DNA damage, which can lead to a cell becoming cancerous. With the incidence of skin cancer rising dangerously in many parts of the world, and with its ability to develop and establish itself in the body 'long' before external signs are detected, -- paying attention to this aspect of sun exposure and sunburn should certainly not be ignored if we are serious about preserving our health.

Now while it may be easier to ignore the effects of sunburn occurring at a cellular level, ignoring the external symptoms of sunburn in the days immediately following such exposure is entirely another matter.

While sunburn is usually not immediately obvious, skin discoloration (ranging from slightly pink to severely red or even purplish) will initially appear from 1 - 24 hours after exposure. Although pain is usually worst 6 - 48 hours afterward, the burn can continue to develop for 24 - 72 hours after the incident. Where there is skin peeling, this generally occurs 3 - 8 days after the burn occurs.

While minor sunburns typically cause nothing more than warm/hot skin, slight redness, and tenderness to the affected area, -- in more serious cases, extreme redness, swelling and blistering can occur. These blisters filled with fluid may itch and eventually break. This can then cause peeling of the skin, exposing an even tenderer layer of skin underneath.

Severe sunburn can cause very red, blistered skin but can also be accompanied by fever, chills, nausea (in some cases vomiting), and dehydration. In instances of extreme sunburn where the pain is debilitating, medical treatment may be required.

While the immediate effects of sunburn can certainly be painful and cause discomfort, the real deterrent to UV overexposure should be the potential damage to your long-term health - including the risk of premature aging of the skin along with skin cancer.

Don't let sunburn and sun overexposure kill your chances of enjoying youthful skin, and a healthy body. Remember, the easiest way to treat sunburn will always be to avoid it in the first place!

By Angela Perin

Does Sun Exposure Cause Skin Cancer?

There are a lot of tales told about skin health. One of the most damaging is that sun exposure causes skin cancer. As you'll see in a moment, this is simply not true.

Melanoma is the form of skin cancer the media likes to refer to when they want to scare the dickens out of the public about the dangers of sun exposure. There are a number of reports of the fact that melanoma has been steadily increasing over the last 20 years. Most dermatologists will say this increase is due to the fact that more people are getting far too much sun exposure in their younger years.

A closer look at the matter, however, reveals a far different story. Skin cancer awareness programs have been effective at increasing the number of people undergoing full-body screening exams, and the result is a huge increase in the number of skin biopsies being performed. It seems that even with biopsies there is still considerable confusion and disagreement among pathologists when it comes to identifying melanoma. It's apparently not a cut-and-dried diagnosis.

Looking at the same tissue, one pathologist will see a benign lesion while another will see it as melanoma. Thus, the dramatic increase in biopsies has led to more melanoma diagnoses, many of which are false, as a new study shows.

The study, conducted by doctors at Dartmouth Medical School, found that there has been a 250% increase in skin biopsies since 1986-which just happens to be roughly the same percentage increase in the number of people diagnosed with early-stage melanoma. These researchers became skeptical about the rise in melanoma after they noticed that over that time there hasn't been any increase in deaths from melanoma or any increase in the number of advanced cases of the disease.

Plain and simple, there has not been an actual increase in the overall incidence of melanoma. The apparent increase is due merely to improved detection because of the increased number of screening procedures and subsequent biopsies, which by the way, hasn't led to any increase in survival or cure rates.

Much like cancers of the prostate, breast, and lung, the more doctors look for cancer, the more likely they will find it and the number of false diagnoses will also increase.

If you or someone you know is diagnosed with melanoma, I would definitely suggest getting a second or possibly even a third opinion.

Obviously, excessive exposure that results in sunburn isn't a benefit at all. However, moderate amounts of sunlight, along with a varied diet containing nature's natural protective anti- oxidants, vitamins, and fatty acids (omega-3s) is actually beneficial and has been shown to help prevent many forms of cancer-including skin cancer.

Lifetime sun exposure was actually shown to result in a lower risk of developing melanoma. (I Invest Dermatol 03;120(6):1087-1093) Past studies have shown that individuals who utilize sun exposure reasonably have a lower incidence of colon and breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, hip and vertebra fractures, et cetera.

Over 20 years ago it was discovered that vitamin D has an "anti-proliferative" effect on cells. In other words, vitamin D can stop cells from multiplying out of control (i.e., from developing into cancer). The body has only two sources for vitamin D. The first is from oily foods (vitamin D is fat-soluble) such as oily fish, organ meats, and eggs. The second is from your own skin cells, which use the same "cancer-causing" UV rays from the sun to convert a form of cholesterol into vitamin D.

Not surprisingly, those who consume more fish and omega- 3 foods have a reduced incidence of melanoma, while those consuming more of the omega-6 oils (the vegetable oils that are now so pervasive throughout our food supply) have increased rates of melanoma and other skin cancers.

A couple of other chemicals that your skin makes when it has adequate exposure to the UV rays of the sun. The function of these two vitamin D-related compounds, lumisterol and tachysterol, isn't yet fully understood. It's possible that they're associated with helping prevent blood sugar problems and obesity.

Avoiding sunlight puts you at a far greater health risk than exposing yourself moderately. Dr. William Grant, one of the top researchers on this subject, has studied the relationship between sunlight and health for years. He's found that every year 47,000 individuals in this country die from 16 different types of cancer due to insufficient vitamin D, whereas 8,000 die of melanoma and another 2,000 die from other skin cancers.

Furthermore, pale skin, numerous moles, smoking, a diet high in fat and low in fruits and veg- etables, and frequent sunburns are all stronger predictors of later skin cancer than UV exposure. As with most things, moderation is the watchword. Enjoy your time in the sun every day and prepare your body with an adequate intake of the right fatty acids.

By Joni Bell