What Causes Skin Cancer Symptoms?
One of the top diagnosed cancers in U.S is the skin cancer. However, it can be very difficult to know you have it as its symptoms can be of various types, which is why skin cancer is often misdiagnosed.
People might have hard time deciding which treatment of skin cancer is effective. They are frighten by the consequences of sun light exposure, so it’s not surprising that people are bathing in sunscreen before going out. Here are some facts about skin cancer, which might scare those of you who like to sunbathe a lot (1):
- Skin cancer cases have out-ranked all other types of cancers combined, in the past 30 years.
- 1 in 5 people in U.S will get this cancer in their life
- Every 57 minutes, one person dies because of melanoma
- Sun exposure and ultraviolet (UV) radiation are connected to nearly 90 percent of melanomas
- Using sunscreen (SPF 15+) on a daily basis lowers the risk of melanoma by 50 percent
We are concerned about three things from the information plastered by global agencies and healthcare authorities.
1. To begin with, the sun is one of vital elements to a healthy life, and it does NOT cause skin cancer.
British Journal of Dermatology has published one of the many studies which have shown that in most cases, areas of freckles caused by sun exposure aren’t the cause of skin cancer. They further elaborated that benign lesions are often misdiagnosed for stage 1 melanoma by an increased number of doctors (2).
2. Medical News Today is crucial for our health, and the best way to get it is through regular exposure to sun.
3. Environmental Working Group explains that every major public health authority such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer, National Cancer Institute, and Food and Drug Administration, claims that the available information don’t support the belief that the rate of skin cancer can be reduced by sunscreens alone (3).
Actually, a lot of sunscreens, even the best ones, contain toxic chemicals that have been related to this type of cancer. So, if these popular products can’t protect us from skin cancer, what can? We should ask ourselves what is the cause of the rise in skin cancer cases, and is it because of the sun or because of the overuse of toxic sunblock lotions and creams.
So, is the real culprit the changes we made in our diet, nutrition or some environmental factor? The fact is that there must be some reason for the sudden rise of skin cancer in the recent years, but we have sun here for millennia, and the rise is noted to have grown by 1800% starting from 1930’s.
Luckily, there are some available treatments for skin cancer, but before we talk about them, let’s see what skin cancer is, which toxins contribute to its development, and what are its 5 symptoms.
Toxins and Nutrition Effect Skin Cancer Symptoms
The modern changes in our agriculture involve the creation of insecticides and the mass production of foods. The food is not what is used to be because of the added chemical preservatives, pesticides, genetically enhancing, and using unhealthy farming methods.
Most of our everyday foods contain fraction of the former nutrition density, and the soil is becoming more nutrient deficient and depleted with each generation.
The reason for this is because people started choosing food varieties according to the color, size, and marketing appeal, instead of the nutrition. Nowadays, the major agricultural companies harvest their produce early, before obtaining all the nutrients from the soil. Furthermore, the food today contains more toxins, like preservatives, pesticides, and BPA, and the air too contains herbicides and pesticides, and we are surrounded by hair, skin care products, and toothpastes.
Not to forget that we are consuming sugar-laden and processed foods that our body wasn’t meant to digest. Our organism can’t produce most of the vitamins and minerals it requires, so we have to get them from our food.
If we give our body food high in Omega-6’sand but poor nutritional value, our body will have to digest things which aren’t even food, in which case it will have to drain away what it can from our muscles and bones. Our body will eventually become full of free radicals, inflamed, toxic, and acidic which is the thriving environment for cancer development.
What is Skin Cancer?
Whenever there’s abnormal growth of skin cells beyond their normal design boundaries, it’s considered as a skin cancer. However, just 2 are regarded as malignant. We can classify skin cancer into three main forms:
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Melanoma
BCC, basal cell carcinoma is relatively harmless and it’s actually the most common form of this cancer. It arises out of the most outermost skin layer and have skin cancer signs like red patches, open sores, scars, or shiny bumps. It rarely spreads (metastasized) so it’s known to be a benign tumor. The statistics show that annually, there are up to 3 million diagnosed cases (4).
SCC, squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant cancer type which appears when upper skin layers gets mutated, and there’s uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells (5).
The symptoms of skin cancer include scaly red patches, open sores, and the characteristic raised growth with hole in the center- the reason why SCC is also known as the ‘rat-bite” tumor. This form of cancer can crust or bleed and can even end be fatal if allowed to develop. There are 700,000 diagnosed cases per year, with 2,500 fatal cases (6).
The most dangerous type and often fatal malignant cancer is melanoma. As the Skin Cancer Foundation explains, it occurs when mutations are triggered by unrepaired DNA damage that result in rapid multiplying of skin cells and eventually formation of malignant tumors (7).
The symptoms of melanoma skin cancer involve pitches or bumps which remind of black or brown moles. Few cases have even showed that they can be red, pink, blue, white, and sometimes skin-colored. It’s the reason for nearly 10,000 deaths in America per year. Melanomas can be cured if detected early.
The ABCDE’s of Skin Cancer Symptoms
Besides the mentioned skin changes and itchiness, you can easily recognize skin cancer in the early stages with the help of the five ABCDE’s skin cancer symptoms. They are:
A (Asymmetry). Draw a line through the center of the lesion or mole on your skin, and if the halves aren’t symmetrical it could be a symptom that it is a malignant tumor.
B (Border). Malignant tumors usually have jagged or uneven border, whereas the border of non-malignant tumors is smooth and regular.
C (Color). Melanomas can have different colors, especially shades of brown, black, and tan, but they can as well be red, blue, and other colors. So, a good sign would be if the tumor is in one color.
D (Diameter). The diameter of melanomas is usually larger than ¼ inch, while that of non-malignant ones is smaller than ¼ inch.
E (Evolving). The tumor is dangerous if it changes in size, color, elevation, or shape, and if there are new symptoms like itching, bleeding, crusting, etc.
However, these ABCDE’s symptoms doesn’t fit for all cancers, so make sure you visit your doctor if you notice any spot, freckle, or mole different from the others.
Standard Treatments for Skin Cancer
The five different types of standard treatments for skin cancer according to the National Cancer Institute are (8):
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Surgery
- Biologic therapy (the immune system of the patient is used in the fight against the cancer)
- Photodynamic therapy (a type of laser light and drug are used to destroy the cancer cells)
However, most of these therapies are harming the immune system of the patient.
Natural Treatments for Skin Cancer
These standard treatments of skin cancer have dangerous side effects which in some cases cause death of the patient, as oppose to helping them. Therefore, we suggest the following natural treatments for different skin cancers.
Black Raspberry Seed Oil –The seeds from this fruit contain antioxidants which are known to provide anti-cancer features. The oil from black raspberry seeds targets the tumor itself, and boosts the immune system of the patient, thus helping in the body’s fight against cancer (9).
Eggplant Extract – The Cancer Letters has published a study which explains that using a cream with a 10 percent concentration of BEC (solasodine, rhamnosyl, glycosides) can effectively treat basal cell carcinomas, keratosis, and squamous cell carcinomas. BEC has been used since 1825, and it’s a successful natural remedy for benign and malignant skin cancers, and includes potato, eggplant, tobacco, tomato, and Bell peppers (10).
Myrrh Oil – This value of this oil used to be decided by its weight in gold, so you can imagine how precious it was. However, there are only 2 published studies which show that cancer cells can be killed with Myrrh. One of them proves its effectiveness in the fight against prostate cancer, while the other in the fight against skin and breast cancer. Myrrh essential oil is loaded with curzerene and sesquiterpenoid so it’s generally safe for all types of skin, used even without carrier (11) (12). But, if you want you can use coconut oil as a carrier oil.
Frankincense Oil –This oil has been used for thousands of years as a natural healing agent. Recent clinical studies have proven to kill breast, skin, and bladder tumors. Frankincense species have 17 active ingredients and researchers want to discover which ones exactly target which tumor type.
How to Apply Skin Cancer Treatments
The best way to obtain the healing benefits from all of these treatments is to prepare your own skin ointment.
You will need 5 milliliters of Black Raspberry oil, Myrrh oil, and Frankincense oil and 1 tablespoon of organic eggplant extract cream. Combine them and add 2 to 3 drops of lavender or cedar essential oil to make your own soothing ointment for skin cancer.
Apply the prepared ointment on the affected area two times a day, or as needed. However, be careful if you have sensitive skin, and make sure you test each of the oils before using them, by putting a drop of each one on the inside part of your arm, and allowing it to stay overnight. The oil which doesn’t show redness on your skin is safe to use it topically.
Healing Diet for Skin Cancer
Along with these 4 healing natural treatments for skin cancer, choosing the right food is also extremely important.
1. Removing Toxins
First and most important is to get rid of all toxins that are surrounding you. Use organic or natural cleaning products, filter for your water, and use non-chemical beauty products (make sure you avoid propylene glycol, sodium laurel sulfate, etc). To check the content of your beauty products, go to the website of Environmental Working Group’s SkinDeep product. An even better and safer way is to prepare your own beauty and cleaning products.
2. Foods to Avoid
It is extremely important to eliminate foods which raise inflammation in the body, as cancer is known to thrive in toxic and acidic environment. Stop using refined cooking oils, processed Fast Food Collage foods, fast food, sugars (artificial sweeteners and corn syrup), and foods with a high Omega-6 ratio.
Furthermore, avoid foods like corn, corn-fed beef, and soy products, trans fats, gluten, deli meats and foods which contain any added nitrates or preservatives.
Have in mind that cleansing can show flu-like symptoms or other similar side effects, but this is normal as it is caused by the release of stored toxins. But, in case you have nausea, headaches, or flu-like symptoms lower the cleansing agent you take or visit your doctor.
Juicing is a great way to detoxify your body and it restores minerals and nutrients to your system.
3. Healing Foods for Skin Cancer
Food is one of the most powerful weapon against skin cancer. It is equally important to pay attention to the food you should eat and the one you shouldn’t. Foods to add in your everyday diet are grass-fed meat, healthy vegetables, healthy fats, wild-caught fish, eggs, and seeds and nuts (soak them for an easier digestion).
Great sources of healing fats include cold-pressed olive oil, avocado, ghee (clarified butter), and coconut oil.
Buy foods rich in antioxidants like berries (goji berries, blueberries, blackberries), Healthline, pecans, cloves, artichoke hearts, acai berries, garlic, and cocoa (in moderation).
4. Supplements
Vitamin D –This vitamin obtained from the sun will improve your immune system and thus help your body in the fight against cancer. We recommend taking a supplemental source of Vitamin D3.
Pancreatic Enzymes – If you take these enzymes in between meals, they will become proteolytic enzymes. The enzyme protease is produced between meals by a healthy pancreas, which is then released in the bloodstream to decompose scar tissue and thus help in the body’s fight against skin cancer.
The pancreas in a cancer sufferer can’t fully perform its function, and therefore can’t produce the required enzymes needed to help the digestion of cancer cell walls based on proteins. This enzyme treatment was originally proposed in 1981 by James Beard, and it was proven to be highly successful in decreasing the cancer symptoms and helping to reverse it.
Probiotics. Your gut is actually 80 percent of your immune system. Therefore, you should nourish your gut to improve your immune system and empower it to combat cancer. To build up your intestine culture you should take variety of food-based and soil-based probiotics, and you can find them online or in your local organic grocery store.
Selenium. American Medical Association 1996 Journal has published a study which explains the power of selenium to lower the risk of skin cancer by 50 percent, and its usage lead to 37 percent fewer malignancies. However, you should take selenium supplements in moderate amounts, and the best way to obtain it is through foods like walnuts, Brazilian nuts, grass-fed beef, and free-range chicken.
Turmeric Curcumin. According to many studies, the active compound in turmeric, curcumin, effectively destroys cancer cells and prevents further development of cancer, especially bowel cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, and stomach cancer.
Via AAD