Long before scientists started exploring the connection between turmeric and skin cancer, the spice had been in the medicine chest of most healers and an essential cooking aid of most households in Asia.

If the connection between turmeric and skin cancer was not known to earlier healers, it was mainly because cancer was less prevalent or less well known at the time. However, there was awareness of its use in treating skin ailments.

Curcumin, the active compound which confers the medicinal powers, can heal wounds, kill germs, and reduce inflammation. Its antioxidant powers can prevent and reverse cell damage.

In the case of skin cancer, curcumin can cause the cancer causing melanoma cells to destroy themselves. This is very different from the more common cancer chemotherapy which destroys the adjacent healthy cells also. The curative mechanism of turmeric, and skin cancer treatment requirements are thus mutually compatible.

The demands that cancer chemotherapy makes on a patient’s immune system are enormous. The patient becomes extremely vulnerable to infection, loses hair, loses appetite, and becomes nauseated.

In the interaction of turmeric and skin cancer treatment, these types of problems are avoided. Rather than damaging the immune system, it is boosted instead. The exact mechanism through which curcumin interacts with cancer cells has not yet been fully worked out, but it is accepted that there is an effect in combating cancer.

Turmeric is not just useful in skin cancer treatment. It is also useful with regard to heart conditions, bad cholesterol and can improve the functioning of the liver. Improved liver function helps prevent the spreading of cancer. It is these myriad health benefits that makes it worthwhile to include turmeric among one’s tools for sustaining good health.

It is usually best to take a multi-ingredient health supplement which contains other supportive nutrients, minerals and factors. A multi health supplement with up to 95% unadulterated curcumin content can provide users with all round health benefits. In addition, when combined with the black pepper extract known as piperine, turmeric is better absorbed into the body and works as a shield against many infections.

I do take a multi-ingredient supplement containing among other components resveratrol, ginko biloba, lutein, multi-vitamins, zeaxanthin, trace elements and many other components whose total exceeds 70.

Most adults knows someone with skin cancer who’s lived to tell about it. There are many kinds of skin cancer that are curable by surgical excision. However, there is one you don’t want to miss: malignant melanoma.

A suspicious mole is usually the first clue to malignant melanoma. But what makes a mole suspicious?

Many, perhaps most people have a mole or two, often since childhood. Some people have dozens to hundreds. The typical mole that appears in childhood or young adult life is flat or slightly elevated and of a uniform color (flesh colored, tan, light brown, medium brown, dark brown, rarely black). The color of the mole depends somewhat on your underlying skin tone. Darker-pigmented individuals, that is, those with more melanin in the skin to begin with, are more likely to have darker moles. Also, the shape of benign moles is generally symmetric, with a smooth border.

A mole suspicious for skin cancer may exhibit the following characteristics:

It may occur in people who have a family history of malignant melanoma (but not always)
It is enlarging.
The color is changing, becoming darker or more uneven.
The border has become ragged or irregular.
The shape is no longer symmetric.
The mole develops itching or bleeding.

One mnemonic for remembering the above is ABCDE

Asymmetrical
Border is irregular.
Color is not uniform (however very light-skinned individuals may have very light-colored melanomas)
Diameter is greater than 6 mm (although smaller moles may also be malignant)
Enlarging (or evolving, or elevating)

Do you have 75 friends? One of them will develop malignant melanoma during his or her lifetime, according to the journal, American Family Physician (Nov. 15, 2000). If the cancer is detected early, it can be surgically removed with little chance of further disease.

However, if the cancer is detected late, after it’s already spread, odds of long-term survival are only 5%, even with chemotherapy.

What can you do to protect yourself? Keep an eye on your moles and show any suspicious lesions to your doctor. Stay out of the sun, particularly in mid-day. Wear a hat (especially you baldies) and use a sunscreen with at least SPF against UVA and UBV. Lastly, avoid tanning beds – that includes the pretty young women reading this article.