Melanoma
Melanoma is a non-communicable disease and according to the Melanoma Institute of Australia, is a malignant skin cancer that affects thousands of individuals. It is a prevalent and serious non-communicable disease, making it an important issue in Australia. Both a biomedical perspective and sociological perspective must be considered to enable health practitioners to have a deep understanding about melanoma, and thus allow them to develop efficient and effective treatment and prevention methods.
Melanoma is an extremely important issue, as 75% of skin cancer deaths in Australia are attributed to melanoma, making it the most dangerous form of skin cancer in the country (AIHW 2010). The AIHW also states that Australia has the highest occurrence of melanoma in the world, with over 12,500 Australians being diagnosed annually, and having a recorded 1500 deaths each year. The Melanoma Institute of Australia states that melanoma is the “most common cancer in young Australians aged 15-39”, and that “rates have doubled in the 20 years from 1986-2006”. The incidence of melanoma is increasing more rapidly than any other major cancer. Owing to the high incidence and mortality rates of the disease in Australia, melanoma is the most life-threatening form of skin cancer in the country, making it a very serious non-communicable disease.
Science and logic underpins the biomedical approach to health and illness. Willis and Elmer (2011) point out that biomedicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of individual anatomical structures of the body, with heavy references to science and medicine. According to the biomedical approach, the major cause of melanoma is the excessive exposure of the skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the ...
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...ww.aihw.gov.au/cancer/skin/
Australian Government Cancer Australia Melanoma of the Skin (2014) retrieved from http://canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-types/melanoma-skin
Melanoma Institute Australia Melanoma facts and statistics (2011) retrieved from http://www.melanoma.org.au/about-melanoma/melanoma-skin-cancer-facts.html
Melanoma Institute Australia Overview Melanoma (2011) retrieved from http://www.melanoma.org.au/about-melanoma/melanoma-overview.html
National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health Melanoma Treatment (PDQ) Treatment Option Overview 2012 retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/melanoma/Patient/page4
The Cancer Council NSW and NSW Health Department Skin Cancer Prevention Strategic Plan for New South Wales (2001) Gladesville NSW The Cancer Counsil New South Wales and NSW Health Department 2001
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The combination of the predominantly light-skinned population, tropical latitude, and cultural emphasis on out-door activities have contributed to this problem. The Australian government has taken measu...
The term biomedicine is used to describe scientific medicine which is prominent in Western societies. To get a better grasp of this concept, Baronov (2008) presented the following interrelated views which account for biomedicine’s ongoing development. Fi...
A regular skin exam (every 6-8 weeks) will help in the melanoma dectection process. Look for irregular skin growths and have the growth examined by a health care provider if the growth promotes cause for alarm.
The prominent theory today about how and why skin pigment in humans developed with the color diversity that exists today, is that ancestral populations of humans inhabited areas with different UV radiation concentration. As a result, the effects of UV radiation put positive evolutionary pressure on skin pigment to develop for sufficient folate protection and Vitamin D production. For a long time, paleontologists have known that human ancestors had dense hair that covered their bodies. The reason that modern humans lack such covering is probably due to changes in climate and habitation choice, but for whatever reason the dense hair covering disappeared, it ultimately did, rendering the skin much more exposed to both the elements and to UV rays. Scientists believe that in response to this change in UV concentrations, the human skin became tougher, and developed a protective pigment called ‘melanin’ which protects against the effects of UV radiation.
Well-known magazines often have broad headlines that show off celebrities sporting bronzed skin, and these articles often throw around the words “healthy” and “glowy” in a positive context. With this influence subjected upon the general public, indoor tanning has become a popular recreation of American men and women alike. As this new trend continues to rise, medical researchers are beginning to pay close attention to the health effects of indoor tanning, especially when referring to tanning beds, respectively. Through many recent case findings and studies, scientists have linked the use of tanning beds to many dermal health problems including types of skin cancers that are deadly. Despite the fact that tanning beds are detrimental to the dermal health of its victims, the use of tanning beds is on the rise and growing.
The first known use of dermatology was established in 1819 and only in the 1930’s did its practice become more widely accomplished, known and sought after. (“Dermatology” 2014) Since then it has extensively evolved and changed and been able to provide services for women and men around the world. Originally being a part of the medicine field can now be considered a division of the beauty industry due to availability of services and treatments for aesthetic, pampering purposes, rather than just originally founded for medical issues of resolving skin disorders and diseases. Dermatology being defined as ‘a branch of medicine dealing with the skin, its structure, functions and diseases’ (“Dermatology” 2014) now offers many professions one being a dermatologist, whic...
Sun shine contain ultraviolet ray which can cause the sunburn or even skin cancer. According to Cancer Council in Australia, Australia has highest incident rate of skin cancer in the world. More than 430000 Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer each year. There are approximately 60 percent of people who have got skin cancer will survive greater than five years after they diagnosis (Cancer Council Australia, 2014). In order to protect people under the sun, the sun protective behaviour is significant necessary.
Skin cancer is a disease in which malignant cancer cells are found in the outer layer of the human skin. This particular cancer is one of the most common cancers among the U.S. population, affecting and spreading over more than one million people a year. “Skin cancer is categorized into two separate groups being; malignant melanomas and non-melanoma cancers.” (Adam, 2013)
Indoor tanning is becoming a very popular “hobby”, but most people do not know, or do not care, about its dangerous side effects. Studies show that people who use tanning booths have a much higher chance of being diagnosed with skin cancer. If someone were to start tanning indoors before they turn 30 or 25, the risk of them getting Melanoma peaks, and if they start tanning before they turn 20 or 25, they are much more likely to get basal and squamous cancer.
Following Baum’s reasoning, the Biomedical Model is centred upon the treatment of health problems. For example if a person has a disease or falls ill the Biomedical Model’s focus is towards the body’s physical processes, which includes biochemical, pathological and physiological (Fanany, 2012). This diagnostic approach involves firstly, locating the cause of the illness (the pathogen), and secondly, treating the illness accordingly using Westernised medical interventions (such as drugs or surgery).
Skin cancer is a disease where cancer (malignant) cells are found on the outer layer of the skin (epidermis). The three types of cells found in the epidermis are squamous cells, basal cells, and melanocytes. These cells in time grow to be cancerous. Thus, the three types of skin cancers are squamous cell, basal cell, and melanoma. Melanoma is the most deadliest and destructive type of cancer. (“Skin Cancer” infotrac.com) The number of people with melanoma has risen in Scotland from 3.5 in 1979 to 10.6 per 100,000 in 1998 for men and 7.0 to 13.1 for women. (Miller 945) Squamous cell and Basal cell skin cancer can kill up to 2,200 people a year in the United States. (Sommerfield SIRS.com) Basal cell, being the most common type of skin cancer, is the cancer that about 75 percent of the people have. (“Skin Cancer “ infotrac.com) Melanoma is mostly seen in older men but ever since tanning came in during the 1970’s, it has increased in women 60 percent around the ages 15-29 over the past three decades.(Sommerfield SIRS.com) “And basal cell and squamous cell cancers are increasing at a rate of about 5 percent per year”(Sommerfield SIRS.com).
The skin is the largest organ in the body, so it isn’t surprising that skin cancer is the most common of all cancers. Melanoma is the least common form of skin cancer, affecting 4% of all cases but causing 79% of skin cancer deaths. The average age of people diagnosed with Melanoma is between 45 and 55, although 25% of cases occur in people under 40. About 10% of all people with melanoma have a family history of melanoma. You are at increased risk of developing melanoma if there is a family history of melanoma in one or more of your first-degree relatives like a parent, child, brother or sister.
National Cancer Institute. 2 December 2013. April 2014. WHO. World Health Organization.
The reasons for the illness are not at the centre of the biomedical model. The biomedical model also receives the majority of government healthcare funding (over 90%). Furthermore, the biomedical model of health has been dominant for many years and played a large role in prolonging life expectancy, bio-living or living organisms and also played a role in medical science of diagnosing and treating disease. It is a community approach to prevent diseases and illnesses.
The high incidence of skin cancer in Australia is the reason for our choice of