Our next guest thought she had a wart on her foot,
but it ended up being something much more,
and it nearly took her life.
Rachel, a 40 year old mom of three says
she felt like a piece of glass was stuck in her foot
and brush it off, thinking it was a plantar wart.
She started self-medicating with wart removal creams,
but more growths appeared on her foot
and she started to worry.
After seeing a dermatologist, she learned she had melanoma,
which had spread to other areas of her body.
She had several surgeries to remove the melanoma
from her foot and reconstructive surgeries
to replace part of er heel.
Doctors also removed melanoma from lymph nodes,
inner groin, and tumors in her stomach lining.
Now Rachel wants to share her traumatic experience
to help raise awareness and save lives.
Friend of the show oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Piro
is here along with Rachel who joins us now via Skype.
Rachel, so very sorry that you've been through
all of this and I know how scary it must have been
and probably still is, but how are you doing now?
I'm doing really well, thank you.
I've just had my latest scan,
(audience applauds)
which has really reassuring, showed no further spread
at this stage, which is amazing.
But unfortunately, as we know with melanoma,
there's still the chunks of the cells still present.
Melanomas could look like almost anything.
We tend to think of them as black spots that are growing,
but they can have a cover over them
from the outer layer of the skin and look like a wart,
like was in your case.
They occur in areas where the sun doesn't shine.
Most of us think that they're only in sun exposed areas,
but this is a good example.
And I think the really important points are that
anything that's persistent on your skin
and doesn't look like it belongs there.
You should see a dermatologist.
Skin cancer, by far the most common of all cancers
as you often tell us.
We all know the importance of protecting
your skin from the sun, but when it comes
to protecting your children,
what's so different about baby versus adult sunscreens?
Have a look.
With one in five Americans developing
skin cancer in their lifetime,
protection from harmful UV rays is so important.
When it comes to protecting children from the sun,
many opt for gentler versions of sunscreen
labeled specifically for kids of babies.
But what makes baby sunscreen gentler?
According to a new study done
by the Clean Label Project, nothing.
The organization examined 95 of the best selling sunscreens
and sunblocks and found no significant difference
between baby, kid and adult versions of sunscreen.
But when it comes to toxins, they did find something
unsettling in many bottles of block, lead.
Five of the tested brands had enough lead
in a dime sized amount to exceed
California's mandated safety levels.
So what's the best way to protect yourself from the sun
and is baby sunscreen just clever marketing?
Joining us now to shed some light
on this study is executive director
of the Clean Label Project, Jackie Bowen.
(audience applauds)
Welcome Jackie.
Welcome.
Jackie, we all want
to do what's best for babies.
What did you find?
Is there difference out there between the safety
of the baby sunscreens versus adult ones?
So the short answer is no, there's no difference.
Clean Label Project tested the top 95 products,
tested them for things like heavy metals, efficacy,
antioxidant activity, sulfites, and what we found
is no difference between baby and adult sunscreens.
So you're a consumer, we need to protect ourselves
from skin cancer, what do we do now?
The point of this discussion is not
to scare people off sunscreen.
So sunscreen is really necessary, as you said,
because even if you wear a hat and sun protective clothing
and you avoid peak hours of UV exposure between 10:00 a.m.
and 2:00 p.m.-
You're still going
to use sunscreen.
You're still gonna get
some sun, and hopefully you're out there enjoying your life.
Jackie, how do you recommend people
determine if the product they're considering is safe?
Well, I would say a few things.
Our findings did show that, consistent with the American
Academy of Dermatology, SPF greater than 30 SPF,
broad spectrum and waterproof is always important.
Of course, work with your family practitioner
or dermatologist to determine what's the best fit,
and overall you can check out our website
at cleanlabelproject.org as well.
Time to...
Ask the doctors.
(cheering)
(audience applauds)
This question came to us via video through social media.
Hey doctors, quick question.
I'm active and I love to be outside,
but I feel like because I'm a ginger,
I get burnt really easy.
(screams cartoonishly)
Do I get sunburned just because I have red hair?
And if that's the case does that mean
that I'm in a greater case for developing skin cancer?
People with red hair are special, right Drew?
She is a lovely young red head, I love that.
I love it too.
And less than 2%
of the world's population, unique.
Yes.
Less than 2%.
And what's unique about 'em, their melanin
is different than the rest of us.
We have eumelanin, hey have pheomelanin,
which is a different type of melanin,
which makes them more susceptible to UV rays.
What's causing it?
A gene mutation, there's a specific gene, MC1R,
and red heads, they have a pair of those,
so it changes their genetic makeup when it comes to melanin.
Clearly more prone to sunburns, that being said,
more prone to skin cancers, and we know our skin cancers,
most common type basal cell carcinoma,
second squamous cell carcinoma, and finally melanoma,
the most lethal form of skin cancers.
Unfortunately, redheads do have a higher chance
of developing these skin cancers.
That's why they have to be particularly vigilant.
What can you add to your diet to decrease
your risk of skin cancer by up to 15%?
(audience muttering)
Foods with Dr. Batra.
Vitamin A!
Woo!
(audience applauds)
Let's give it up
for Vitamin A.
Yes, so this is actually
a really interesting study that was
just published in JAMA Dermatology.
They looked at over 125,000 people and looked at their
longterm risk of developing the second
most common type of skin cancer,
which is called a squamous cell carcinoma.
And they found that those with the highest dietary intake
of Vitamin A, had a 15% lower risk of SCC.
And so this is really interesting because Vitamin A
is known to help promote skin cell
differentiation, turnover, growth.
It's something that we give as a synthetic form
to people at very high risk of skin cancer.
But the problem with Vitamin A medications
is they have a lot of side effects like dry lips,
dry eyes, hair loss, sun sensitivity.
And so in this case, none of these people
with the higher dietary Vitamin A had these side effects,
but they did have the protective effect.
So super easy, carrots, kale, sweet potatoes, eggs.
I mean, all of these are things
that you should be incorporating in your diet anyway.
And if it decreases your risk of the most common type
of cancer in the United States,
I really feel like it's a no brainer.
Absolutely, and you do not need to study to get this A.
(audience laughing)
Unless you're
needy, like me.
Eat those veggies.
But I will say one thing as a side note,
because I was mentioning those synthetic forms,
too much Vitamin A can be dangerous.
Remember for men the recommended daily amount is 3000 IU,
for women it's 2200 IU.
So these shouldn't get you over that by any stretch,
but do take it from the diet, not from supplements.
I love how the food you put in your body
can protect you from the outside of your body.
