Don’t invite skin cancer to your holiday weekend.

As Americans celebrate their independence at beaches, pools or backyard parties, they should remember that the sun’s damaging rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. – and protection is a must.

Like brushing your teeth

“When it comes to sunscreen, people in general don’t put on enough, and they don’t put it on as often as they should,” said Dr William Huang, a dermatologist at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“I tell my patients that it should become routine, like brushing your teeth. You’d feel strange if you didn’t brush your teeth every day, and it should feel strange if you’re not using sunscreen every day,” he said in a health system news release.

The sun emits two types of ultraviolet radiation, and both do skin damage. UVA rays contribute to premature wrinkling and ageing. UVB damages surface skin cells and contributes to sunburn.

But even if you don’t get a sunburn, ultraviolet radiation causes changes in skin DNA that can lead to cancer, Huang said. And everyone – not just people with fair skin – is at risk.

“We see skin cancer in people of all ages and skin types,” Huang said. “Ultraviolet radiation is a carcinogen.”

Most common serious skin cancer

And when it comes to skin cancer, UV radiation poses a bigger risk than smoking does for lung cancer, he said. Once your skin is damaged, it’s damaged for life, Huang added.

“Much of the skin cancer that we see in people in their 50s, 60s and beyond is from sun damage they had when they were in their 30s, 20s or even younger,” he said.

Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma account for about 97% of all skin cancers. Both appear on sun-exposed areas. When caught early, both can be removed and rarely spread to other parts of the body.

Melanoma is the most common serious skin cancer. About 200 000 Americans get it each year, and some 7 000 die from it.

“If you leave a melanoma unchecked long enough, there is a high chance it will spread,” Huang said. “On the other hand, if a melanoma is identified early it can be removed without complications in most cases.”

Greater overall awareness

Check your body for new bumps, spots, scaly patches or other abnormalities, and look for changes in moles, freckles or birthmarks. These are the best ways to find skin cancer before it gets out of hand.

“Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer out there, and there’s greater overall awareness today that overexposure to the sun isn’t good for your health,” Huang said. “But we still see lots of people engaging in risky behaviours.”

To reduce your risk, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends:

• Limiting sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun is strongest.
• Wearing protective clothing – long-sleeved shirt, long pants, wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
• Avoiding tanning beds and sunlamps.
• Using water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher.

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Antibiotics aren’t necessary for most toothaches, a new American Dental Association (ADA) guideline says.

It’s common for doctors and dentists to prescribe antibiotics to ease toothache symptoms and prevent a more serious condition.

Tremendously important medications

But a review that led to the new guideline concluded that antibiotics are not the best option for adults with a toothache. Instead, they should get dental treatment and, if needed, use over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), according to the ADA.

“Antibiotics are, of course, tremendously important medications,” said Dr Peter Lockhart, chairman of the expert panel that developed the new guideline. “However, it’s vital that we use them wisely so that they continue to be effective when absolutely needed.”

Lockhart is chairman of the department of oral medicine at Carolinas Medical Center – Atrium Health in the Charlotte metro area.

More harm than good

Antibiotics are designed to combat bacterial infections, but they don’t necessarily help with a toothache. They can cause serious side effects, and overuse has resulted in bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.

The guideline does provide examples when antibiotics may be prescribed for a toothache.

“When dental treatment is not immediately available and the patient has signs and symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, or extreme tiredness, antibiotics may need to be prescribed,” Lockhart said in an ADA news release. “But in most cases when adults have a toothache and access to dental treatment, antibiotics may actually do more harm than good.”

The new guideline appears in the Journal of the American Dental Association.

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A Holyrood committee finds 18% of cancer patients in June were not seen within the six-week target.

Social care pledges will be under intense scrutiny during the election, but why is it so important?

The second National Health Insurance (NHI) public hearings in Limpopo province unfolded at Lenyenye Community Hall, just outside of Tzaneen. 

NHI is the proposed financing system for universal healthcare in South Africa – where citizens and permanent residents, refugees and certain categories or “individual foreigners determined by the minister of home affairs” are provided with essential healthcare, regardless of their employment status and ability to make a direct monetary contribution to the NHI Fund.

But HIV advocacy group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in Limpopo are on the fence as it cites the bill is not clearly presented and that it could have a hidden agenda. 

“The way the bill is presented is not satisfactory. We not sure if it’s going to work or not, but we have questions about whether it’s going to be another chance for corruption,” TAC Limpopo Chairperson Helen Nkuna told OurHealth. 

“We don’t know on which side that it would work because now the government is failing. The challenges that we have raised since 2013 have not yet resolved and nothing has changed. Are we going to benefit as rural areas or what?” 

Nkuna and other residents who made oral submissions highlighted that problems such as shortage of staff, infrastructure, unfilled vacancies and lack of proper security at the provincial health institutions are prominent and remain unattended.

Mixed reactions

Last year, the Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) declared Lephepane Clinic, the country’s worst clinic.

The body, which aims to improve the quality of health care in South Africa, scored the clinic 20% and said it didn’t comply with National Core Standards, as the safety of patients at the clinic was compromised due to the bad condition of the building.

“We have reported to the department about our cases nothing has been done. Yes, they managed to do fencing around the clinic to enhance the security at the clinic but the department is failing to build a proper structure as they now want to do renovation, the building they want to renovate does not have enough rooms.

It also doesn’t have a pharmacy and the maternity room,” said the clinic’s committee vice chairperson, Mpapa Rakgoale.

The clinic does not operate 24 hours which affects the community in cases of emergencies, Rakgoale explained. 

Relief to the poor

During the hearing, Dimakatso Kgwete from Phalaborwa revealed that she was shot and was not treated at the nearest hospital, which was private because she didn’t have medical aid.

She is in support of the bill because she believes it will come as a relief to poor people.

Meanwhile, Grace Sambo, from Nwamitwa, was sceptical on NHI saying that the public health facilities are faced with many challenges and the bill won’t be able to address them all.”

At Nwamitwa clinic, there is a long waiting period, shortage of nurses and there is no clinic committee.

I feel that the NHI will come short in addressing some of the challenges in rural areas because some still have to travel to clinics and the shortage of ambulances will not be fixed anytime soon,” she said.

The proceedings are set to continue in Sekhukhune and Capricorn District on Sunday and Monday respectively.

– Health-e News

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Mogale Mojela

Check-up charges in England of £22.70 will be scrapped under a Labour government, the party says.

South Africa has a rate of femicide five times higher than the global average, with a woman being murdered every three hours in the country, according to the latest statistics verified by Africa Check, the non-profit organisation set up to promote accuracy in public debate and the media on the continent. 

There is increasing awareness of this historic problem in our country. According to South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics, there were 40 035 rape cases reported in 2017/18. Sexual violence continues to be the reality for many South Africans.

High rates of mortality

According to a researcher at the Institute for Gender Studies at the University of South Africa, Sivuyisiwe Wonci, gender-based violence reduces women’s confidence, freedom of movement and opportunities.

She says: “Gender-based violence contributes to what we call ‘premature deaths’ in public health. Due to the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa, women’s lives are lost before the average age of death, which is 75 years,” says Wonci.

Wonci, who specialises in gender, health policy, and health care systems reforms in South Africa, adds that GBV is a public health issue in South Africa. It contributes to high rates of mortality and morbidity among women.

“It puts women at risk of life-threatening physical, emotional, and psychological illness. It threatens women’s dignity, safety and security both in public and private spaces,” she says.

Harsh reality for women 

Following the high profile cases of GBV cases this year, i.e. the murdered boxer, Leighandre “Baby Lee” Jeggels; student, Uyinene Mrwetyana; and another student, Jesse Hess, some women have decided to take action to stay alive and keep other women around them alive. 

Nomandla Vilakazi is a third-year student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a rape survivor. She facilitates classes with high school students about consent and rape culture.  Like many students who attend UCT, Vilakazi was left shocked and fearful following the rape and murder of a fellow student, Mrwetyana.

“I carry my guard up every day. I was raped last year, and finally got to a place where I was comfortable with myself and felt independent. [But] after Uyinene’s death, I went back to [experiencing] anxiety,” she said.

Vilakazi says rape feels like a disease that can just happen at any time without warning, even though one takes every precaution. 

‘All eyes are on you’

“I would love to take up walking. If it’s in a group it would be okay. But I am scared of someone walking up to me. It’s scary, gives me anxiety and holds me back. I have to watch my behaviour and think about everything, what activities I’m doing, what time I’ll be back, how will I get home – stuff like that,” says Vilakazi. 

Stephanie Thomson* (26) from Cape Town says the fear of being violated has stopped her from exercising. “I gained weight and it becomes a sick cycle to break. Even if I went to gym, I would avoid the ‘men’s’ section because it feels like all eyes are on you and anything can happen.” 

Lisa, who was sexually abused at her former workplace, told OurHealth that she often takes longer routes, just to avoid being raped.

^{*Not her real name} 

Clio Koopman

Many people who tried going meatless one day a week to call attention to food and climate change continued after the campaign ended, a new study says.

Researchers surveyed 320 households from Bedford, New York, that took part in the town’s “Meatless Monday” campaign in 2018. For 12 weeks, participants ate no meat one day a week.

Health fell as a reason

In a survey six months later, nearly 57% of respondents said they were eating less meat than before the campaign, and more than 70% said they skip meat every Monday or at least once a week.

Nearly 70% said it was easy or very easy to cut back, and 68% said they were more committed to going meatless on one day of the week.

Respondents said the biggest challenge was friend and family preferences for and/or eating habits around meat.

Participants were also surveyed at the start and end of the campaign. In all three surveys, health was the most common reason given for eating less meat.

At the end of the 12-week campaign, health fell as a reason while climate change, the environment, energy saving and water conservation moved up.

In the six-month follow-up survey, climate and environment fell slightly as reasons for reducing meat consumption but were still higher than at the start, according to the findings.

Most effective strategies

The study was presented last week at a meeting of the American Public Health Association, in Philadelphia.

Researchers noted that Bedford, New York, has a higher education and income level than the average US community.

“As a result, the results skew toward higher awareness and smaller levels of behaviour change because they were already eating less meat,” said study author Becky Ramsing. She’s a senior programme officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

“At the same time, the findings can help us understand which strategies may be most effective in building community awareness and action around food and climate,” Ramsing said in a meeting news release.

Research presented at meetings is generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Katie Sturino has built an empire by creating plus-size versions of other celebrities' looks. The founder of Megababe and fashion blogger has been vocal about her effort to normalize all body sizes in the fashion industry, but unfortunately, not everyone is receptive to her mission. 

On Tuesday, Sturino shared an equally heartbreaking and infuriating series of photos that showed just a few of the nasty comments she’s received. The screenshots included some pretty awful messages in response to a photos of Sturino and Meghan Markle wearing similar outfits. 

“She looks like she ate Meghan Markle…and stole her dress,” wrote one commenter. Others said, “Body positivity is a lot easier when you don’t look like a cow,” and “Put a yellow raincoat on her, plus red earrings, and she would look like the back of a school bus."

RELATED: Katie Sturino Gets Real About Thigh Chafing, Body Confidence, and Her #MakeMySize Movement

But Sturino fired back: “FFS, every time I think we have made so much progress about our bodies and the way we talk about women, something pops up to remind me our work is not done!!!,” Sturino wrote in her caption. “My #SuperSizeTheLook shots with Meghan Markle got picked up and the comments are brutal…they do not hurt my feelings, but they are scary! It’s scary that a woman who is almost the average size in this country would be regarded with such shock!”

Sturino said that it wasn’t just scary to read what the haters wrote about her body—the fact that they also attacked Meghan Markle is proof that people can’t stop criticizing women’s bodies. 

RELATED: This Plus-Size Blogger Recreates Meghan Markle’s Most Stylish Looks For Body Positivity

“Can’t be thin. Can’t be fat. Maybe STFU ABOUT WOMENS BODIES!!!!!” she wrote. “All this to say, please keep spreading positivity. Please keep shining bright. Please don’t engage with the crazies in the comments. PLEASE DO LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND TELL HER THAT YOU LOVE HER!!!!!! ( I just did)”

Sturino ended her message by writing that there is currently a “war on women’s bodies” and that despite the negativity, women need to work together to fight to stay positive for each other. 

Thankfully, her followers proved that the world isn’t entirely unkind. Sturino received plenty of comments in support of her message. 

“People fear progress, the world is changing for the better and many of those who benefited from the previous systems are afraid and cowardly,” one person wrote. “The work you’re doing is important, it wouldn’t anger them if it wasn’t. Keep going, keep thriving, their time is coming to a close.”

RELATED: I Didn't See Women My Size on the Internet—So I Decided to Change That

Hunter McGrady, another plus sized model, also commented on Sturino's post: "Yep. Get these comments every. Single. Day. It’s unbelievable how people will easily hide behind a computer screen," she said. "We need so much love in this world right now. It’s so much easier to hate.. its lazy. Time to speak positively about people."

While these sort of comments are likely not going anywhere anytime soon, Sturino's message seems to be resonating with her followers—and hopefully spreading some positivity, too. 

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Real talk: The recovery process after having a baby doesn’t need to happen fast—especially when it comes to getting your weight down or your muscle up. That’s the message CrossFit Games athlete and North Carolina-based trainer, Emily Breeze Ross Watson, wants you to know. Basically, it’s all about being patient with your body.  

The Bootcamp with Randy Moss coach recently posted a super-real postpartum photo collage on Instagram, revealing her body two months post-delivery, compared to her body just one week after giving birth to her baby girl Williana Moon Watson.

“Day by day, I don’t see big changes. It’s a slow and steady grind," she wrote in the caption. "I get frustrated in the process because it just freaking takes time. And patience is hard. When I get discouraged (which I do!) I try to focus on how I feel & how amazed I am at what my body has accomplished & how my kiddos are growing each and every week.”

RELATED: News Anchor Nina Harrelson Responds to Body Shamer ‘We Are Not Your Eye Candy’

Breeze also wrote that she doesn’t follow fad diets or strict meal plans—and she doesn’t even weigh herself (only when she has to at the doctor’s office!). “I’m all about flexibility and enjoying this sweet life of mine every day,” she says. “No matter where you are today, I encourage you to embrace it with me and let’s all build each other up!”

This isn’t the first time the mom of three shared her post-baby recovery. In the two months since giving birth, Breeze has posted tons of progress pics—including a few up-close shots of her C-section scar and the recovery and healing process that goes along with that. In one video, you can even see her husband peeling off the surgical tape from her scar—and in another one, someone is helping her "break down the scar tissue" associated with her C-section.

RELATED: Katie Sturino Claps Back at Trolls Who Shamed Both Her and Meghan Markle’s Bodies

Breeze also opened up about her deliveries and why she decided to go with the cesareans. Her message to moms and other women: “My hope is that we all start supporting each other better and take away the feeling that one way is better, or makes you stronger, or more cool, or more of a mom. Having a baby period is pretty damn amazing.”

High five to that—and giving our bodies the time they need to recover.  

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