DrSugar is in the house! This week she's schooling us on skin cancer. Given that summertime is right around the corner and with warmer weather blessing a good part of the country, I figured it was a good time to share some knowledge about how to recognize skin cancers and how to prevent them. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer and Read more

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer, and unfortunately, it's a disease that's on the rise. However, melanoma, which can be described as the uncontrolled spread of pigment-producing cells, can be easily cured when detected early enough. It's National Skin Cancer Awareness month, so for more tips on prevention, stay tuned. But first, discover more about this type of cancer and who has Read more

Today is Melanoma Monday, the kickoff to Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness month. And according to results released today by the American Academy of Dermatology, a disturbingly high number of young women today still don't feel that tanning is a serious threat. The problem is, however, that most causes of melanoma are due to exposure to sunlight and UV light. Melanoma can be a serious form of Read more

You may not think about phosphates much, but they're in an astonishing variety of foods: soda, candy, frozen pizzas, cheese, some skim milk, and ketchup, among other edibles. Unfortunately, their ubiquity may be a very bad thing indeed:  A study from Emory University published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research suggests that they may be a factor in our high skin cancer rates. To find out Read more

There was talk of a "tan tax" before, but now it's for real. On July 1, tanning bed users are in for a price hike. That's when the newly-passed health reform bill's 10 percent tax on tanning goes into effect. The tax is a measure designed to discourage people from exposing themselves to the dangerously high levels of UV rays in tanning beds, since tanning bed users double their risks of Read more

In case you haven't heard it enough, you need to wear sunscreen every day. Need more proof? Recent studies published in the Archives of Dermatology have concluded that more and more people are being diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer. In fact, treatments for this form of cancer have increased by about 77 percent between the years 1992-2006, making it the most common type of cancer. And Read more

This isn't shocking, given the genetic component in so many diseases, but it's another piece of news to make you wear your sunscreen and ask if someone in your family has had skin cancer. Melanoma, as well as other skin cancer types, have been proven heritable. Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia found that if one twin in a set has melanoma, the other's risk increases 10 Read more