The Learning Journal allows you to step back and reflect on the concepts you studied in this unit.
In the Learning Journal, imagine you work for a community health organization. How would you promote skin health in your community? What practices do you feel like are important to emphasize and why? Demonstrate your understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary system as you develop your health promotion activity.
Discuss any preconceived ideas or notions on the readings and how the readings may have strengthened or changed your understanding or opinions about this topic.
Be sure that your Learning Journal entry is a minimum of 500 words.
1. How would you promote skin health in your community? What practices do you feel like are important to emphasize and why? Demonstrate your understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary system as you develop your health promotion activity.
Skin cancer is an unignorable disease when considering skin health at the community level. Various studies have clarified the differences in the incidence of cancer among regions and ethnic groups, and it has been found that skin cancer occurs more frequently in people of the same ethnic group, geographically closer to the equator. As textbooks explain, skin cancer is caused by damaging DNA by overexposure to UV radiation, but melanin protects skin cells from DNA damage from the sun (OpenStax, 2018). Therefore, the incidence of skin cancer increases in proportion to the amount of melanin. As a result, skin cancer is more common in whites, less common in yellow people, and almost unheard of in blacks.
Japanese people are classified as yellow race, and the number of new skin cancer patients in Japan is expected to be 25,900 in 2022 (National Cancer Center Japan, 2022). Statistics from the National Cancer Center showed a prevalence rate of 19.0 cases and a mortality rate of 1.4 cases per 100,000 population (National Cancer Center Japan, 2022). In Japan, where nearly 1 million people develop some form of cancer each year, skin cancer is minor, but experts analyze the number of skin cancer cases increasing rapidly as the life span is extended.
In Japan, culturally, some people intentionally try to tan their skin. However, it is a risky action on the present earth, where the destruction of the ozone layer is progressing. If not immediately, they may pay the price for that action years or decades later. The most effective way to prevent skin cancer is to reduce your exposure to ultraviolet rays, such as the sun. As a community health organization worker, I will warn people that overexposure to UV light is very dangerous and to use sun creams and sunshades daily to control sunburn. Also, I want to promote early skin cancer detection by publicizing common moles and how to recognize them. For example, the ABCDE mnemonic is a helpful way the diagnosis of early-stage skin cancer. ABCDE mnemonic is an acronym for Asymmetry, Borders, Color, Diameter, and Evolving and represents the characteristic looks of melanoma (OpenStax, 2018).
2. Discuss any preconceived ideas or notions on the readings and how the readings may have strengthened or changed your understanding or opinions about this topic.
Langerhans cells which can be seen in this layer, engulf bacteria, foreign particles, and damaged cells and promote the growth of normal skin tissue (OpenStax, 2018). Langerhans cells recognize antigens that enter the skin, extend cell projections, incorporate them into cells, and send them to lymphatic vessels via the dermis (West & Bennett, 2018). In other words, these cells trigger an immune response against various skin-invading microbes and help lymphocytes and immune system cells in the dermis to destroy them.
I have pollen and yellow sand allergies, and when I inhale them, I experience respiratory symptoms. And eczema appears on my skin when I touch them. These substances interval into the skin through small invisible wounds in the epidermis, and activated the Langerhans cells that sensed them, causing an allergic reaction. I have always wondered why I have an allergic reaction when I have a skin barrier, but I understood the reason after studying this week.
Thank you for the instruction, professor. (578 words)
References
National Cancer Center Japan. (2022). Projected cancer incidence in 2022. Retrieved from https://ganjoho.jp/reg_stat/statistics/stat/short_pred_en.html
OpenStax. (2018). Anatomy & physiology. Houston, TX: Rice University. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/FPtK1zmh@12.6:fEI3C8Ot@16/Preface.
West, H. C., & Bennett, C. L. (2018). Redefining the role of Langerhans cells as immune regulators within the skin. Frontiers. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01941
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