Block it!

Sunscreen and sunblock differ in one important way while one totally blocks out harmful UV rays from the sun, the other just lessens the amount of harmful rays being absorbed deep into your skin

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Malignant melanoma is the most serious kind of skin cancer because it can spread quickly from the skin through the lymph nodes of blood to internal organs

Skin cancer

Often appears as a dark, at, or slightly raised mark on the skin with variegated colours. Borders are irregular, with indentations or notches Skin surface

Supercial spreading melenoma

Sunblock

Sunblock forms a protective barrier on your skin (it is not absorbed) that reects both UVA and UVB light or scatters it o of the skins surface The active ingredients in these sunscreens are zinc oxide and/or titanium oxide. These metal oxides do not degrade with exposure to sunlight Skin surface Squamous cells

UVA/UVB ligh

or SPF stands fFactor on Sun Protecti

Melanocytes Most common type of melanoma Grows outward rather than downward Not usually at risk of spreading to other parts of the body

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Nodular melanoma
Often appears as a uniformly black-coloured nodule (small, knot-like bump). It feels very round, and the borders are smooth and regular

Basal cells Melanocytes Veins

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Tends to develop quickly. Often found in middle-aged people. Grows downward. A risk of spreading to other parts of the body.

UVA/UVB light

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Sunscreen is absorbed into the skin It combines organic and inorganic chemicals to lter the light from the sun so that less of it reaches the deeper layers of your skin

Sunscreen

Epidermis Dermis Fat cells Sweat gland Hair follicle

29%

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SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1; INFOGRAPHIC BY ANTHONY GREEN/QMI AGENCY

Canadians will die from melanoma this year, and 5,500 will be diagnosed with it. Melanoma is now the eighth most common cancer found in Canadians.

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