The most common form of cancer in the United States is skin cancer, as there are over 3.5 million skin cancers diagnosed in over 2 million people each year.1 In fact, there are more new cases of skin cancer than there are cases of breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers combined. Currently, the rate of an American contracting skin cancer over the course of his or her lifetime is 1 out of every 5 Americans.
Many people believe that younger people are at the greatest risk of contracting skin cancer because many younger people love to soak up the rays of the sun and attain that golden color. They believe that older people have little risk of contracting skin cancer because most older people are not ones to bask in the sun as many younger people tend to do.
This is a common misconception that is not supported by current medical facts. The truth is that older people are more likely to contract skin cancer than younger people. This is because 80 percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure occurs after the age of 18, not before.1
Combine this with the fact that it often takes skin cancer many years, if not decades, to manifest itself, and it’s not until at least middle age, if not elderly age, before skin cancer is detected and diagnosed.
Why Skin Cancer Strikes Senior Citizens
As mentioned above, it’s a common misbelief that younger people are at the most risk for skin cancer. The risk associated from receiving ultraviolet radiation from the sun is cumulative, meaning that the more ultraviolet radiation you receive over time, the higher the risk that you will develop skin cancer at some point in your life.
Based on the average lifespan of a person living in the United States, 78 years of age, a person will only accumulate 22.73 percent of his or her total accumulated sunlight exposure by the time he or she is 18-years old. That percentage increases to 46.53 percent by the time the person reaches age 40, 73.7 percent by the time the person reaches 59 years of age, and 100 percent by the time the person reaches 78 years of age.1
If you consider the percentage increases of each age group, you’ll see that older adults actually gain a higher amount of UV exposure than younger people do:
Ages Percentage Increase in Accumulated Exposure
1-18 22.73 percentage increase (from 0 to 22.73)1
19-40 23.80 percentage increase (from 22.73 to 46.53)1
41-59 27.17 percentage increase (from 46.53 to 73.70)1
60-78 26.30 percentage increase (from 73.70 to 100.00)1
From ages 1 to 40, a typical person will receive 46.53 percent of his or her average accumulated exposure. This means that 53.47 percent of his or her average accumulated exposure occurs AFTER the age of 40.
Add to this the fact that most skin cancers develop very slowly and need a few decades to fully reveal themselves, and this adds to the evidence that senior citizens are the most susceptible and likely to contract skin cancer.2
Therefore, senior citizens certainly need to be aware that they are susceptible and likely candidates of contracting skin cancer, especially if they received high amounts of sunlight during their lifetimes.
Warning Signs that a Senior Citizen May Have Skin Cancer
As with younger people, it’s vital for senior citizens to always examine their bodies regularly and be aware of any changes in shape, size, color, or appearance of any moles. They should immediately see their doctor if they do notice any changes.
Senior citizens are especially likely to have actinic keratoses on the backs of their hands, their lower arms, and their faces, as actinic keratoses develop due to prolonged exposure to sunlight over an extended period of time.2 Actinic keratoses often appear as brown or dark pink patches on the skin, usually with a rough or scaly exterior. These skin growths can be precancerous – only your doctor can definitively determine whether the actinic keratosis is precancerous or not.
The actinic keratoses present on a senior citizen may show how much UV exposure that person has received over the course of his or her lifetime, which could help to identify the person’s risks for contracting all of the various types of skin cancer.3
What makes it more difficult to diagnose skin cancer in senior citizens is that their skin changes due to their advanced age. Wrinkles, sags, age spots, and other changes to their skin make it more difficult to determine what skin growths are benign and what ones are precancerous or cancerous. These wrinkles and sags are due to the loss of elastin in their skin, which allowed their skin to quickly bounce back when it was pulled or stretched.4 While elastin naturally decreases with age, increased exposure to sunlight will accelerate the loss of elastin.
Senior Citizens Must Be Aware and Proactive to Defend Against Skin Cancer
Many people make the mistake of presuming that senior citizens cannot get skin cancer because it is a disease that only strikes younger people. They make this mistake because they presume that younger people spend more time in the sunlight and receive more ultraviolet radiation, and thereby, are more at risk for developing skin cancer.
The truth is that UV radiation damage is accumulative over a person’s lifetime, making senior citizens the most likely to contract skin cancer. The truth is that over 53% of a person’s UV exposure will occur after the age of 40.
Senior citizens must be proactive and must always examine their bodies for suspicious-looking moles and growths to reduce their chances of contracting skin cancer and to reduce the complications if they do contract it. If they find such a mole or growth, they should see their doctor immediately, as only he or she can determine whether the mole or growth is a threat to the person’s health or is nothing to be concerned about.
References
1 The Skin Cancer Foundation – Skin Cancer Facts. (2011). From The Skin Cancer Foundation: www.skincancer.org/Skin-Cancer-Facts/
2 Skin cancer: Risk factors – MayoClinic.com. (2010, August 18). From MayoClinic.com: www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-cancer/DS00190/DSECTION=risk-factors
3 Early Detection and Treatment of Skin Cancer – July 15, 2000 – American Family Physician. (2000, July 15). From The American Academy of Family Physicians: www.aafp.org/afp/20000715/357.html
4 Causes of Aging Skin. (2010). From American Academy of Dermatology: www.skincarephysicians.com/agingskinnet/basicfacts.html
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