Sunscreen isn't only meant to prevent burning, it's also to protect your skin from the UV rays that can cause skin cancer. 

In 2016 there were roughly 7,200 cases in Alberta of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.  Jason Cabaj from Alberta Health Services shares some tips on how to detect, protect and eliminate skin cancer. 

"In general when we think about detecting skin cancer and melanoma being the most serious type of skin cancer, people need to be aware of the shape and colour of their existing moles and potentially new moles."

It's important to keep a constant eye on how much sun you take in and the shape of the moles on your body, It's also wise to avoid tanning beds due to the heavy doses of UV radiation. There are lots of ways you can prevent skin cancer and the simplest way is to avoid prolonged exposure to UV radiation. 

"Melanoma is very preventable.  The Alberta Prevents Cancer initiative says 82 percent of melanoma can be prevented and the best way of doing that is simply avoiding UV radiation."

Most of us believe that it is just hot days and high UV indexes that lead to skin cancer, however, new studies are showing you can develop skin cancer even in low UV light. 

"It's also important to understand different people are more prone to skin cancer such as the elderly or young children as their skin hasn't built a resistance to UV light"

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