Most people have the same amount of melanocytes present in the skin. Melanocytes are located in the stratum basale, and are specialized cells that produce melanin. However, the differences present in skin tones across the human race is due to how much melanin the body’s melanocytes produce. Melanin is the body’s natural sunscreen and protects us from the sun’s powerful and potentially harmful UV rays. While UV rays can cause skin cancer, in appropriate amounts it helps the body produce Vitamin D (cholecalciferol). Over time and many generations, the people further from the equator began to have a lighter skin color due to the fact that they were producing less melanin in response to absorbing less sunlight and UV rays. Meanwhile the people …show more content…
Other things such as carotene and blood flow influence skin color as well. Freckles are indicative of uneven melanin production, and can become more apparent due to sun exposure. It is believed that this uneven production is genetically passed down.
Wrinkles will occur naturally on their own due to skin becoming less elastic and natural oil production to slow as the body ages. Ultraviolet radiation exposure can speed up the natural aging process and cause your skin’s elastic and collagenous fibers in your connective tissue to begin to break down. Without these fibers to support your skin’s overall structure the skin begins to become saggy and appear wrinkly. Smoking can also contribute to the premature appearance of wrinkles as well as repeated facial expressions such as smiling or laughing.
Eczema can often be diagnosed by looking at it. Typically eczema on the skin appears as very dry patches that can be reddish in color. The dryness also contributes to the scale-like feeling of eczema if touched. If the patient also reports itching, it makes it even easier for a doctor or dermatologist to diagnose eczema. The key to taking care of eczema is to practice good skin hygiene and be ultra-diligent about moisturizing skin to decrease itching and obviousness of
Many people think that is it possible to achieve a “healthy tan,” but this thought has been proven wrong. Overexpose to UV-A and UV-B rays from the sun lead to premature aging of the skin, as well as the possible formation of skin cancer, know as melanoma. An appearance of a tan is actually a stage of burning and damage to the skin. Although a tan may be desirable to many, the fact remains that more people need to be educated on the dangers of the sun’s harmful rays, and the possible health complications of overexposure.
The article “Skin Deep” written by Nina G. Jablonski and George Chaplin discusses the evolution of skin color. Right from the beginning of the article, Jablonski and Chaplin debunked the existing theory that darker skin color evolved to protect humans against skin cancer. As a matter of fact, evidence has shown that skin color in humans is the product of natural selection. “Skin Deep” also discusses topics like melanin, skin cancer, and how human migrations took an important role in the evolution of skin color.
The other cause is the degree of pigmentation of the skin. Individuals with the highest risk are people who live in sunny places and people who have fair skin. The areas of the body that are the most exposed to sunlight are the areas of the face and head. Here, cancer is more likely to develop. (Bair, 1991, P. 368).
3). Scratching any of the infected areas can make it more painful, it can make the skin become more infected or even to blister or bleed because of the scabs created from scratching. If you do not treat eczema with any topical steroids or continue to scratch it will cause it to rapidly worsen in such way as it becoming infected, huge blisters intensified itching (Eczema, p. 6). Eczema is widespread, all throughout the world, depending on your surrounding environment or your genetic makeup you can become affected with it. Eczema is painful in such a way of intense itching that can leave to tears in the skin or an infection. There is no way to test for it so there is no way to cure it only ease symptoms. My cousin has eczema when she was only a few months old she would get rashes in on the bends of her knees and under her neck in her fat rolls the doctor would call them hot spots. My aunt could not change detergents or her soap, and the hotter it got outside the worse it would be on her, sometimes it even looked like someone burnt her skin because of how bad it
The basic component in tanning is ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light, whether produced by a tanning unit or by the sun, contains two components; UVA and UVB. These are the two types of ultraviolet radiation that are known to negatively effect the skin. UVA has a longer wavelength that causes photoaging and can produce some melanomas. UVB has a shorter wavelength that also causes photoaging and has been implicated in skin cancers. Photoaging is the premature aging or deep wrinkling of skin. Indoor tanning units utilize both forms of light waves to tan a person with a minimized risk of sunburn. Tanning outdoors does not give you this option because the sun omits every type of UV rays, so a person is more likely to burn. A person’s skin epidermis consists of two layers: The germinative layer and the horny layer. Another name for the germinative layer is the “living layer.” And another name for the horny layer is the “dead” layer. When exposed to ultraviolet light, melanocytes in the germinative layer produce melanin that is absorbed by surrounding cells. Melanin is a dark pigment found in the pigment-bearing cells of the skin, and melanocytes are epidermal cells capable of synthesizing melanin. This creates a protective barrier from ultraviolet light reaching deeper into the layers of the skin. The pale pink melanin granules are stored in the core of keratin cells. UVA darkens the melanin,
Have you ever felt the “false sense of security that [you] may not feel under direct sunlight” from a tanning bed (Jeffrey)? Your body relaxes, you feel serene, and you get a golden glow. Some teens strive for this feeling...and the tan. Tanning is the skin's response to injury, according to Arielle Kauvar, M. D. The exposure of UV rays over time can cause skin cancer. Skin cancer is the growth of abnormal growth of skin cells that forms in the tissue of the skin (Skin Cancer). Melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, can come from UV rays. From 1998- 2008, the number of cases of Melanoma has increased by about
An example of an area would be in the European areas, where the UV radiation doesn’t beam down as strong onto our skin. If it was another hot open area such as Australia then the skin pigmentation stayed darker. In short, the skin pigmentation adapted to the lifestyle and the surround environment to better help survive in that climate. This is due to the body producing more melanin so the effects of the sun’s rays can be counteracted. Through generations successful genes are passed through the blood line, the human body also has a tendency to produce a particular amount of melanin depending on the location of where one
Some people are born with more melanin than others. People with dark skin have more melanin than people with light skin. Some people are born with no melanin at all, and they are called albinos (Stewart, 10). Too much time in the sun produces extra melanin which protects the skin from the sun’s rays, and also makes lighter skin get darker, or suntanned. But if too much time is spent in the sun, it can result in a sunburn, and this can lead to skin
The majority of skin cancer is caused by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and artificial sources such as solariums. Research indicates that it is not just the overall amount of UV radiation that determines the risk of skin cancer, but also the pattern of exposure that shapes that risk, as well as the type of skin cancer that develops. Anyone can develop skin cancer but many people in Australia are at higher risk than others. People who work indoors and have infrequent but intense periods of exposure may be at higher risk of melanoma than someone who works outdoors but avoids being sunburnt.
These waves have extremely short wavelengths (40nm - 400nm), and thus, by using the following equation of hf=(hC)/x we can conclude that the frequency of its photons are relatively high. The 3 main types of UV include UVA, UVB and UVC of which UVB is the most harmful due to the fact that their photons have enough energy to cause a disturbance in the sequencing of DNA in the skin. Extensive exposure to UV can cause melanocytes to become cancerous. Melanin acts as the skin's defence mechanism against UV light penetration. Dark skinned people have a great amount of melanin, which absorbs the harmful effects of UV radiation, more than fair skinned people who have a lesser amount of melanin.
Eczema is a term used to describe itchy, red inflammation of the skin with oozing of fluid and crusting, which doctors also describe as atopic dermatitis. People who have eczema usually have a family history of asthma, hay fever and atopic dermatitis (eczema). Dermatitis affects about one in every five people at some
When melanocytes become abnormal and grow uncontrollably, they invade surrounding tissues and this is how melanoma develops. Melanoma can grow anywhere on the body bit it is most often occurs on the upper back of men and mostly on a women’s legs. Skin cells develop in a controlled and orderly way, healthy new cells then they push the older cells toward the skin's surface, where they die and eventually fall off. When some of the cells develop the DNA is damaged and new cells may begin to grow out of control, eventually form a mass of cancerous cells. Melanoma’s main cause is a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The experiment was carried out to show that doctors believe exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and
It has the squamous cells, the Basal cells, and the Melanocytes. Most damage comes from ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet Radiation is mostly found in the sun and tanning beds. Or being exposed to toxic substances can weaken your immune system. Some risk factors of this include Fair skin, a history of sunburns, excessive sun exposure, moles, sunny or high altitude climates, a family history of skin cancer, a weak immune system, and exposure to radiation or certain substances.
What does influence skin color variation is the size and distribution pattern of melanosomes as well as other factors.
Skin pigmentation is affected by the way that bodies absorb vitamin D from cholesterol. When a person is in the sun a lot, his or her body is exposed to ultraviolet B light; this is known to convert the sunlight into cholesterol, which then converts into vitamin D (Moalem 51). As a result, the amount of sun exposure that one gets can begin to make him or her a darker color; however, they are the ones who have a healthy level of cholesterol in their bodies. Hence, the darker skin is a compromise in order for humans to have a sufficient cholesterol level. Furthermore, a human's folate levels are also related to the skin pigmentation in their bodies. Folate is an integral part that allows the cells to synthesize in preparation for meiosis. Those