Sun and skin damage

Photodynamic Therapy for Sun Damage and Skin Cancers

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medical treatment that uses a photosensitizing drug (a drug that becomes activated by light exposure) and a light source to activate the applied drug. The result is an activated oxygen molecule that can destroy nearby cells. Precancerous cells and certain types of cancer cells can be treated this way. The procedure is easily performed in a physician's office or o...

Acute skin sun damage in children and its consequences in adults.

Children spend more time outdoors than adults and there is compelling evidence that childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for the photocarcinogenic effects of the sun. The negative effects of solar radiation are accumulated during the entire lifetime; however 80% of total lifetime sun exposure is taking place before the age of 18 years. Child skin is more sensitive than adult skin because...

Using optical coherence tomography to evaluate skin sun damage and precancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a depth resolved imaging modality that may aid in identifying sun damaged skin and the precancerous condition actinic keratosis (AK). STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS OCT images were acquired of 112 patients at 2 sun protected and 2 sun exposed sites, with a subsequent biopsy. Each site received a dermatological evaluation, a h...

SUN protection for the skin

LINC complexes, consisting of inner nuclear membrane SUN proteins and outer nuclear membrane KASH proteins, connect the nucleus to the cytoskeleton, transmitting forces that control the nucleus's position within the cell. But how LINC complexes affect the cytoskeleton, and thus the balance of forces across cells and tissues, is less well understood. Stewart et al. now demonstrate that the LINC ...

Skin Cancer and Sun protection in Skin of Color