Posted October 03, 2018 07:01:17 A new study suggests that people with dark skin may be more susceptible to sunburn and that those with dark complexion may need sun protection.
Researchers at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, who published their findings in the Journal of Dermatology, conducted a meta-analysis of more than 40,000 published case reports of people with a history of sunburn or sunburn-related skin cancer.
Researchers found that the more people had dark skin, the higher the risk of sun exposure and of developing skin cancer in the future.
According to the study, dark skin is one of the three most common skin disorders among women, men and older people, and has been linked to sun damage, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death.
In the meta-study, researchers looked at the incidence of sunbursts and the severity of sun damage among people with darker skin.
In people with light skin, more than 90 percent had sunburns or sun burns.
Researchers also found that those who had sunburts had a higher prevalence of both sunburn severity and melanoma.
According the researchers, the findings suggest that dark skin in men and women with darker melanin levels may be a potential source of sun-related risk factors.
“We know that dark-skinned people are more prone to sun burn and to skin cancer, but we didn’t know what the underlying mechanism is for that,” said Dr. John F. Brown, a dermatologist and author of the study.
Brown said he was interested in finding out what causes darker skin to be more vulnerable to sun-induced skin damage.
“I have a suspicion that melanin may play a role.
Maybe darker skin is a marker of higher melanin, which is associated with higher melanoma risk.
So, perhaps dark- skin individuals have more melanin to go around,” Brown said.
Brown and his colleagues are now working to identify the mechanisms behind this relationship.
“There are probably a number of factors that contribute to the higher melanocyte density in darker skin,” Brown explained.
“We don’t know yet if this might be the case in humans.
We also don’t have the full picture on what the effects are of these melanocyte densities on melanoma development.”
But there’s no doubt that these darker melanocytes have more to them than other melanocytes in the body,” he said.
And the more adjacent melanocytes, the greater the risk,” Brown noted.””
The more melanocytes there are, the more melanoma there is.
And the more adjacent melanocytes, the greater the risk,” Brown noted.”
What I’m trying to do is to try to understand what’s causing this more extreme risk of melanoma,” he continued.
Brown has treated people with melanoma and other skin cancers and said the findings of this study may be of interest to dermatologists and skin cancer researchers.
Brown hopes that by understanding the mechanisms, they will be able to better predict patients with sunburn who are more at risk for melanoma, or to predict how those with darker, darker skin may respond to sun protection programs.
“Our study suggests something important about the role of melanocytes and melanin in melanoma; that dark is more malignant,” Brown concluded.
“The goal is to understand the mechanisms and make the best possible choices for our patients,” he added.More News: