To get more information (and less judgment) about skin cancer in young people, I clicked on Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in the dermatology department at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. I asked him if he’s been diagnosing skin cancer more and more recently in patients 25 years of age and younger.
“Skin cancer is not common in patients under the age of 25,” Zeichner told me. “That being said every year, I seem to be detecting more and more skin cancers in this group of patients. This could be due to not protecting the skin as well as it did when I was younger, using tanning beds and exhaustion. . of the ozone layer allowing more penetration of ultraviolet rays into the Earth’s surface.”
I also asked Zeichner to explain more about what makes some young people more susceptible to skin cancer than others. “Skin cancer develops because of genetics and environment,” says Zeichner. “In some people, even low levels of UV light enough to cause skin cancer to develop. In others, their skin cells are genetically better able to resist the effects of UV rays. Family history is an important prognostic factor. If your first-degree relatives have a history of skin cancer, you should be extra vigilant about protecting yourself from skin cancer. “This is certainly true for me, as my parents and grandparents both had a lot of basal cell and squamous cell cancers.
Scroll down to find out my top sun care tips and my favorite shopping Skin care products. Don’t forget to schedule a skin test with your own dermatologist.
