Is it just me or does it seem like its mostly white people who are most likely to get skin cancer?
594991
Yes, pale skin is most likely to get skin cancer because it does not have sufficient pigments to absorb the radiation that can cause mutations to the skin's DNA.  That is why people with lighter skin tan when out in the sun.  It is their body's response to protect their skin's DNA.
436164
I have skin cancer.\n\nMy nephew has retnoblastoma (lost one eye to cancer) (only affects babies/children under the age of 7). \n\nMy dad has skin cancer, and lung cancer. \n\nThey say everything goes in threes...for our family's sake, I hope that is true, and we are done without further incidents.
837508
its not often white people. most of em r black, ok?
116670
Its the same old story - Indians have a big weakness for the fairer skin. Even in India, you will be able to find incidents of bias towards people with fair skin - be it from a Caucasian foreigner or someone from the upper class society in India itself. Unfortunately the saying that "Beauty is only skin deep" does not apply too well in India - discrimination just there in the subconscious. \n\nIn fact, I was a victim of the same mentality too for quite some time - I tended to judge darker people. That was until my father put some sense into my head. I'm not that ashamed of having a darker skin tone anymore myself.
43220
I agree with both the answers here also ,but may I add different people have different amounts of melinin in there skin which is determined typically \nby genetics although environment can also play a\nrole ,even if you may be freckle dispositioned genetically (which is typically very fair skinned people)Have much less melinin in their skin.You may not aquire much freckling if you use a very high sp sunscreen (this also applies in winter)or you can mimimize the possibility of freckling.Usually people who freckle easily do\nnot tan well.And are more likely to aquire \ncancers of the skin ,unlike their counterpart melanin enriched people.Or dark skinned people.\nThe pigment of genetic predertermined skin is\nnot difficult to predict based on ethenticity \nor even heredity.This does not exclude darker\nskin from aquiring cancers or freckles .Many\nmore caucasians are succeptible  to freckles \ngenetically and envriomentally than any other\nclassified group of humans.
28958
The evolution of the different skin colors is thought to have occurred as follows: the haired ancestor of humans, like modern great apes, had light skin under their hair. Once the hair was lost, they evolved dark skin, needed to prevent low folate levels since they lived in sun-rich Africa. (The skin cancer connection is probably of secondary importance, since skin cancer usually kills only after the reproductive age and therefore doesn't exert much evolutionary pressure.) When humans migrated to sun-poorer regions in the north, low vitamin D3 levels became a problem and light skin color evolved.\n\nDark-skinned people who live in sun-poor regions often lack vitamin D3, one reason for the fortification of milk with vitamin D in some countries.\n\nThe Inuit are a special case: even though they live in an extremely sun-poor environment, they have retained their relatively dark skin. This can be explained by the fact that their traditional animal-based diet provides plenty of vitamin D.\n\nAlbinism is a condition characterized by the absence of melanin, resulting in white skin and hair; it is caused by a genetic mutation.\n\nResearch on skin color variability:\nThe color of human skin varies from dark brown to pale pink. In attempting to discover the mechanisms that have generated such a wide variation in human skin color, Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin (2000) discovered that there is a high correlation between the coloration of the human skin of indigenous peoples and the average annual ultraviolet (UV) radiation available for skin exposure where the indigenous peoples live. Accordingly, Jablonski and Chaplin plotted the whiteness (W) of skin coloration of indigenous peoples who have stayed in the same geographical area for the last 500 years versus the annual UV available for skin exposure (AUV) for over 200 indigenous persons and found that whiteness W of skin coloration is related to to the annual UV available for skin exposure AUV according to\n\n    W = 70 - [(AUV)/(10)]\n\n(Jablonski and Chaplin (2000), p. 67, formula coefficients have been rounded to one-figure accuracy) where the whiteness W of skin coloration is measured as the percentage of light reflected from the upper inner arm at which location on humans there should be minimal tanning of human skin due to personal exposure to the sun; a lighter skinned human would reflect more light and would have a higher W number. Judging from the above linear fit to the empirical data, the theoretical maximum whitest human skin would reflect only 70 per cent of incident light for a hypothetical indigenous human-like population that lived where there was zero annual UV available for skin exposure (AUV = 0 in the above formula). Jablonski and Chaplin evaluated average annual UV available for skin exposure AUV from satellite measurements that took into consideration the measured daily variation in the thickness of the ozone layer that blocked UV hitting the earth, measured daily variation in opacity of cloud cover, and daily change in angle at which the sunlight containing UV radiation strikes the earth and passes through different thicknesses of earth's atmosphere at different latitudes for each of the different human indigenous peoples' home areas from 1979 to 1992.\n\nJablonski and Chaplin proposed an explanation for the observed variation of untanned human skin with annual UV exposure. By Jablonski and Chaplin's explanation, there are two competing forces affecting human skin color:\n\n   1. the melanin that produces the darker tones of human skin serves as a light filter to protect against too much UV light getting under the human skin where too much UV causes sunburn and disrupts the synthesis of precursors necessary to make human DNA; versus\n   2. humans need at least a minimum threshold of UV light to get deep under human skin to produce vitamin D, which is essential for building and maintaining the bones of the human skeleton.\n\nJablonski and Chaplin
1175358
Yes, I've had an African-American friend or two actually get sunburnt (long story short, they were students I knew back when I was in high school and in college, respectively).  It gets ugly when it happens though because the extra melanin means that there's resistance to it until it gets *nasty* bad.\n\nAs in the fellow in high school nearly got sunstroke and had to spend some time with bandages on from first and second degree burns from the UV....and my lady friend in college, though hers wasn't as severe, she still had to see a doctor for it because the skin under the burn was really causing her problems (pain, irritation, and healing back in lighter than the rest of her face).\n\nMoral of the story, politically incorrect though it is: sometimes having extra resistance to sun exposure can be a VERY bad thing.
47710
No, caucasians who get aids tend to be gay or I.V. drug abusers. America puts these white people in the same catagory with all the other untermench.
1115112
Absolutely not!  I don't think you have to justify your personal convictions to anyone.  Finally, finally, someone in this category that makes perfect sense to me!\n\nOur technicolor skin/blood lines should be the least of our worries, or I would have to give thought to the ridiculous news on this category that whites will be extinct!   I told a story once in a seminar about two Indian kids sending smoke signals to each other in the New Mexico desert near Trinity Site.  Just about then, the H-Bomb was tested, and when the huge cloud of smoke exploded, one kid said to the other:  "I wish I could've said thaaaaat!"\n \n\nYour wisdom shines!  I wish I could've said that.  Thank you, madam.  Have a great holiday!
647446
Skin cancer, sun damage, wrinkles.
1132388
none stop using tanning bed. You are increasing your risk of skin cancer. Use spray on tan places instead. Believe me skin cancer is no fun. Please take care of yourself now it will pay off later.
1054645
First of all, amen to that.  I am a white guy, so you will probably just brush me of in saying that, but I seriously mean it.  People are people no matter the color of their skin or any other physical attribute.  Guess what, all of your insides are the same color no matter what color the outside is.  The differences that really arise are differences in physical attributes (which mean very little if any at all) and the differences in cultural influence.  The culture of each group is what really makes each seem more different in the minds of the other groups.  For many people, it is hard to get that in their thick skulled heads, but for me it is very obvious.  See people for who they are, not for who they appear to be on the outside.
324087
my mom spend every weekend on the beach\n\nshes like really dark\n\ni dont think she knew about sunscreen\nso dont worry about it so much\n\ndidnt you hear everything causes cancer?  but then maybe not?
142504
Matt and Bert are both correct but there are so many factors.  Some kinds of cancer seems to "run" in families.  Recent things I've read indicate that if all men lived to be 80 years old almost all of them would have prostate cancer.  Many kinds of cancer seem to be affected by poor diet, though not directly caused by it.  Smoking and other pollution and chemicals in the environment seem to have an effect.  People who are obese seem to be more likely to get certain kinds of cancer.\n\nThe bottom line is that there is no simple answer to your question.  Do some internet searches for differnt kinds of cancer and you'll get more specific information.
1105736
Absolutely.  Skin cancer is caused by the sun damaging the skin.  You do not have to ever get sun burned to get skin cancer.  Some people tan very easily and never burn, but the repeated and/or prolonged exposure to the sun's damaging rays damages the skin cells causing cancer.  People with light complexions and well as dark complexions and every where in between NEED to wear a good sun block to prevent the sun's damaging rays from actually damaging the skin.  It is also recommended that people with light colored eyes (blue/green) wear sunglasses when out in the sun.  Apparently lighter colored eyes are sensitive (or more so) to the suns harmful rays.
475963
Psoriasis is found out that it is inherited from the family tree. That some place up the roots 5 generations back that a relative had this. What can make it worse is stress, foods you eat, pop, beer, etc. So if you eat healthy and "try" to stay as much as possible stress free, that helps. But also my dermatologist has me do UVB treatments and he has suggested UVB with some meds. Which, I have refused the meds. Since, it does cause Cancer in the liver. I have pretty much used the natural remedies like the sun outside but I put on a spf of 15 so that my skin still will get some penetration. But, the sores can happen from your knuckle joints to your elbows to your head, back of knees... and also where you have been injured i.e. where you have accidentally cut yourself.. Being a female and having it since I was 5, it was then considered at that time an African American disease. But, the Dr's noticed that not many Caucasians would come in. But, it eventually got out it's an inherited issue. I found out mine went back to like 6 generations and not another person in my family has it. Not even one sibling out of 9 of us besides me. So go figure. But try to keep your stress level on the down low. I know easy said. If you have any questions please ask. I’m not a DR but I have lived with this most of my life that I can remember. I hope this helps. There is no known cure but.... who knows what tomorrow can bring. Wish big, I do.. btw, there is several different types of Psoriasis also. EAch one is so different. And also they have found out that people with Psoriasis is known to have crippling artheritis(sp)or some type of Artheritis. So when some say it doesnt have any other effects they need to check theyre facts. Since I do keep up on this very closely
965057
I think what bothers me is that while there's so much focus on breast cancer, hardly any focus gets put onto others types of cancer...with the exception of maybe leukemia.  I am glad that breat cancer has a lot of focus and attention, but it's certainly not the only type of cancer.  And even though there is so much focus on breast cancer, all the focus goes on women even though men can and do get breast cancer as well (even though the statistics are much lower).  So to answer your first question, no I don't think there's nearly enough awareness on cancer.