Smoking linked to skin cancer in women

The Internet has become a valuable tool for finding out information about your health. Doctors even use it. But you have to be cautious about the information you are getting and be sure to use a reliable site. And sometimes even then you can be fooled.
Over the past few years I've written and published probably 500 articles about health and the latest medical news. I've been interested in medicine for as long as I can remember. I diagnosed my own diabetes and went to the doctor with a plan to control my blood sugar. I was reading The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and The New England Journal when I was sixteen. M y family and friends are always asking me questions about their health. But I always tell them to see a doctor just in case I am wrong, especially if it might be serious.


The researchers found that the more people smoked, the more likely they were to have skin cancer, Rollison said. Men who had basal cell skin cancer were significantly more likely to have smoked for at least 20 years than men with no cancer, the study authors noted.
While the study found an association between smoking and skin cancer risk, it did not prove a cause and effect.
Despite the elevated smoking-related risk among women, men overall are more likely to get skin cancer, Rollison noted. She said that "it is possible men's skin is more sensitive to sun exposure than women's."
But another skin cancer expert suggested that men may be less inclined to use sunscreen or other protection when outdoors.
"Although it could just be a genetic difference (between men and women), men tend to have more unprotected sun exposure in their lives," said Dr. Jeffrey Dover, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University Medical School.
Dover said the study findings weren't surprising because "we know cigarette smoke contains carcinogens" and smokers are "blowing the smoke and ash around their faces all day."
The study is important, he added, because "although we have done well, we can do even better" at eliminating smoking as a cause of disease. "This adds more fuel to the idea that smoking has no place in our society."
Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, where about 2 million cases are treated annually, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Squamous cell cancer occurs in the epidermis, the top layer of skin, and can spread to other organs. Basal cell skin cancer occurs in the dermis, the skin layer beneath the epidermis. While it does not spread to other organs, it is far more common than squamous cell cancer, according to the government agency.
More information: To learn more about skin cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer