Actinic Keratosis: Prevention & Treatment

Conditions & Diseases: Skin Diseases

Actinic Keratosis

Prevention: Since the sun exposure which causes AKs to develop probably occurred many years ago, it's very important that young people (from their teens to 20s) practice good sun protection. Parents should teach their children from a young age proper protection methods from the sun which are outlined below.

According to the American Association of Dermatology, however, parents and young people don't seem to be getting the message. A 2003 survey revealed the following:

"...people are spending more time outdoors, are not adequately protecting themselves with sunscreen, and still believe the appearance of a tan is healthy. In addition, younger people are less likely to use sunscreen on a regular basis and are more likely to visit a tanning salon today than in the past." (2)

“These findings represent the need for greater public understanding about the link between cumulative ultraviolet (UV) radiation, AKs and skin cancer,” said dermatologist David J. Leffell, MD., Department of Dermatology, Yale University, New Haven, CT. "Most people are not aware of how damaging sun exposure is over time, and that making simple lifestyle changes can protect themselves and their families. Left untreated, AKs have the potential to progress to squamous cell carcinoma, the second leading cause of skin cancer deaths in the United States." (2)

Under today's global climate changing conditions, this advice should be an alarm to those who think tan skin is sexier than healthy skin - because there is nothing sexy about actinic keratosis or squamous cell carcinoma. Approximately 2,200 people die each year as a result of non-melanoma skin cancers, which includes SCC and more than 200,000 new SCC cases are diagnosed each year.

Now that you understand the importance of prevention, the AAD recommends adopting a full-scale and redundant sun protection program. This includes sun screen lotion with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15, and reapplying sunscreen every two hours when outdoors, even on cloudy days. The higher the SPF, the better and keep in mind that any SPF under 15 offers very little realistic protection.

The AAD also recommends "...wearing protective clothing such as a wide-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirts and sunglasses, avoiding the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when ultraviole"t rays are strongest, and seeking shade whenever possible."

Treatment: The treatment plans and options available for AKs are largely successful and depend on the age of the patient, location of the AKs and amount of AKs present on the skin. These treatment methods include:

Cryosurgery is the most common treatment method used for actinic keratosis. Cryosurgery is a fancy name for the application of liquid nitrogen which actually "freezes" the AK lesion -thereby causing it to flake, break up and fall off to be replaced by new skin.
Topical Chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil also causes the AKs to "fall off" after becoming inflammed and reddened. New but tender skin will grow to replace the old lesion.
Photodynamic therapy is a new method which calls for the application a natural chemical that is later treated by a device that "activates" the chemical to destroy the AK.

Other treatment and removal methods being used include: laser resurfacing, chemical peels and cauterizing.

The American Association of Dermatology recommends that patients treated for AKs should see their dermatologist once a year to detect, diagnose and treat AKs that can possibly continue to occur.

Article by Jason Morrow,
Founder & Editor
OmniMedicalSearch.com