Global Health Asia-Pacific July 2020 July 2020 | Page 32

Cancer News
Face-ageing
app can raise
skin cancer risk
awareness
A useful tool to visualise the risk of
melanoma, it changed behaviour in
adolescents
The use of an app to simulate images
of the future effects of sunlight on
facial skin jolted teenagers into reducing
activities that increase the risk of skin
cancer, according to research from
Brazil.
Secondary school students
participated in a seminar where
medical students altered selfies of
the adolescents through the mobile
app Sunface to show changes in
their faces caused by exposure to
ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a component
of sunlight and a risk factor for skin
cancer, especially early in life. They also
received information on how to protect
themselves from UV radiation, which is
also released by tanning beds and sun
lamps.
Multiple surveys conducted before
and after the seminar showed that daily
sunscreen use increased by around
eight percent while tanning decreased
by almost four percent. Researchers saw
no behavioural changes in the group of
teenagers who didn’t participate.
�These findings suggest that
interventions based on face-ageing apps
may increase skin cancer protection
behaviour in Brazilian adolescents.
Further studies are required to
maximise the effect and to investigate
the generalisability of the effects,� the
authors wrote in the journal JAMA
Dermatology.
PHOTO; FACE APP
Satisfying relationships can improve
health in breast cancer survivors
Emotional bonds can also help other medical conditions by keeping stress
at bay
Positive romantic bonds are linked to better health in breast cancer survivors, found a
study conducted at Ohio State University.
Women in happy relationships are less likely to experience a recurrence of the
malignancy and a host of chronic conditions if they’re in a happy relationship.
“It’s important for survivors, when they’re going through this uncertain time, to feel
comfortable with their partners and feel cared for and understood, and also for their
partners to feel comfortable and share their own concerns,” said Dr Rosie Shrout, lead
author of the study and a researcher at the Institute for Behavioural Medicine Research
at The Ohio State University (OSU), in a press release.
�Our findings suggest that this close partnership can boost their bond as a couple
and also promote survivors’ health even during a very stressful time, when they’re
dealing with cancer,” the statement said.
�nsurprisingly, women who were satisfied with their relationships showed decreased
levels of stress, which in turn were linked to low levels of inflammation markers in the
blood. Over time, the persistence of high inflammation levels increases the risk of
cancer recurrence, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s.
Though the study focused on breast cancer, Dr Shrout believes good relationships
are likely to improve the health of people with other serious conditions by lowering their
stress levels.
Previous research conducted by the study’s senior author, Dr Janice Kiecolt-Glaser,
a professor of psychiatry and psychology at OSU, similarly suggested that marital
problems were detrimental to health.
“Some of the research would suggest it’s better to be alone than in a troubled
relationship,� she said in a press release. �A good marriage offers good support, but the
broader message for a breast cancer survivor who is not married is to seek support in
other relationships.”
30 JULY 2020 GlobalHealthAndTravel.com