“Nearly 5 million people are treated for skin cancer each year in the United States. Skin cancer can be serious, expensive, and sometimes even deadly. Fortunately, most skin cancers can be prevented.”

American Cancer Society

“You can reduce your risk of skin damage and skin cancer by seeking shade under an umbrella, tree, or other shelter before you need relief from the sun.   A hat with no holes (like a straw hat) to protect the scalp and neck with a brim around entire hat.  Eyeglasses protect your eyes.  Your best bet to protect your skin is to use sunscreen or wear protective clothing when you’re outside—even when you’re in the shade.”

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Most skin cancers are a direct result of exposure to the UV rays in sunlight. Both basal cell and squamous cell cancers (the most common types of skin cancer) tend to be found on sun-exposed parts of the body, and their occurrence is typically related to lifetime sun exposure. The risk of melanoma, a more serious but less common type of skin cancer, is also related to sun exposure, although perhaps not as strongly. Skin cancer has also been linked to exposure to some artificial sources of UV rays.

Types of skin cancer:

Basal and squamous cell skin cancer: Many observational studies have found that basal and squamous cell skin cancers are linked to certain behaviors that put people in the sun, as well as a number of markers of sun exposure, such as:

• Spending time in the sun for recreation (including going to the beach)
• Spending a lot of time in the sun in a swimsuit
• Living in an area with a high amount of sun
• Having had serious sunburns in the past (with more sunburns linked to a higher risk)
• Having signs of sun damage to the skin, such as liver spots, actinic keratoses (rough skin patches that can be precancerous), and solar elastosis (thickened, dry, wrinkled skin caused by sun exposure) on the neck

Melanoma: Observational studies have also found links between certain behaviors and markers of sun exposure and melanoma of the skin, including:

• Activities that lead to “intermittent sun exposure,” like sunbathing, water sports, and taking vacations in sunny places
• Previous sunburns
• Signs of sun damage to the skin, such as liver spots, actinic keratoses, and solar elastosis

Other cancers: Because UV radiation does not penetrate deeply into the body, it would not be expected to cause cancer in internal organs, and most research has not found such links. However, some studies have shown possible links to some other cancers, including:

• Merkel cell carcinoma (a less common type of skin cancer)
• Cancer of the lip
• Some types of eye cancer, such as melanoma of the eye and squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva

Artificial sources of UV rays:

Indoor tanning: Studies have found that people who use tanning beds (or booths) have a higher risk of skin cancer, including melanoma and squamous and basal cell skin cancers. The risk of melanoma is higher if the person started indoor tanning before age 30 or 35, and the risk of basal and squamous cell skin cancer is higher if indoor tanning started before age 20 or 25.

Welding and metal work: Some studies have suggested that welders and sheet metal workers might have a higher risk of melanoma of the eye.

Phototherapy: People exposed to UVA as a treatment for skin conditions such as psoriasis (as a part of PUVA therapy) have an increased risk of squamous cell skin cancers.

Treatment of skin conditions with UVB alone (not combined with PUVA) has not been linked to an increased risk of cancer.

In testing violet rays:

Studies of cells in lab dishes and test tubes have shown that sunlight and simulated sunlight (for example, from xenon or xenon-mercury arc lamps) can cause DNA damage (mutations).

Exposure of mice, rats, and some other lab animals to sunlight and artificial sources of UV rays has been shown to lead to skin cancers. Most of these cancers have been squamous cell carcinomas. Some exposed animals have also developed cancers of the eye (affecting the cornea and conjunctiva).

No type of UV radiation has been shown to be safe – cancers have developed after exposure to UVA (alone), UVB (alone), and UVC (alone).

Ending line with all this data:

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. Based on the data available, IARC classifies UV radiation as “carcinogenic to humans.”

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of several different US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NTP has classified UV radiation as “known to be a human carcinogen.”

“Summer has arrived and while the sun is shining bright it’s a golden time to highlight July as UV Safety Awareness Month!

The sun emits radiation known as UV-A and UV-B rays. Both types can damage your eyes and skin:  Here are the harmful things unprotected sun exposure can do:

• Cause vision problems and damage to your eyes
• Suppression of the immune system
• Premature aging of the skin
• Skin cancer”

U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs

Radiation is the emission (sending out) of energy from any source. There are many types of radiation.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. The main source of UV radiation (rays) is the sun, although it can also come from man-made sources such as tanning beds and welding torches.

Radiation exists across a spectrum from very high-energy (high-frequency) radiation – like x-rays and gamma rays – to very low-energy (low-frequency) radiation – like radio waves. UV rays have more energy than visible light, but not as much as x-rays.

Higher energy UV rays often have enough energy to remove an electron from (ionize) an atom or molecule, making them a form of ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation can damage DNA in the cells in our body, which in turn may lead to cancer. But because UV rays don’t have enough energy to penetrate deeply into the body, their main effect is on the skin.

• UVA rays are the weakest of the UV rays. They can cause skin cells to age and can cause some indirect damage to cells’ DNA. UVA rays are mainly linked to long-term skin damage such as wrinkles, but are also thought to play a role in some skin cancers.
• UVB rays have slightly more energy than UVA rays. They are the main rays that cause sunburns. They cause most skin cancers.
• UVC rays have more energy than the other types of UV rays. Fortunately, because of this, they react with ozone high in our atmosphere and do not reach the ground. Therefore UVC rays are not normally a risk factor for skin cancer. But they can also come from some man-made sources, such as arc welding torches, mercury lamps, and UV sanitizing bulbs that kill bacteria and other germs (such as in water, air, food, or on surfaces).

Sunlight is the main source of UV radiation, even though UV rays make up only a small portion of the sun’s rays. About 95% of the UV rays from the sun that reach the earth are UVA rays, with the remaining 5% being UVB rays. The strength of the UV rays reaching the ground depends on a number of factors, such as:

• Time of day: UV rays are strongest between 10 am and 4 pm.
• Season of the year: UV rays are stronger during spring and summer months. This is less of a factor near the equator.
• Distance from the equator (latitude): UV exposure goes down as you get farther from the equator.
• Altitude: More UV rays reach the ground at higher elevations.
• Clouds: The effect of clouds can vary. Sometimes cloud cover blocks some UV from the sun and lowers UV exposure, while some types of clouds can reflect UV and can increase UV exposure. What’s important to know is that UV rays can get through, even on a cloudy day.
• Reflection off surfaces: UV rays can bounce off surfaces like water, sand, snow, pavement, or grass, leading to an increase in UV exposure.
• Contents of the air: Ozone in the upper atmosphere, for example, filters out some UV radiation.

The amount of UV exposure a person gets depends on the strength of the rays, the length of time the skin is exposed, and whether the skin is protected with clothing or sunscreen.

Man-made sources of UV rays

Man-made sources of UV rays can also be important. These include:

• Sunlamps and sunbeds (tanning beds and booths): The amount and type of UV radiation someone is exposed to from a tanning bed (or booth) depends on the specific lamps used in the bed, how long a person stays in the bed, and how many times the person uses it. Most modern UV tanning beds emit mostly UVA rays, with the rest being UVB.
• Phototherapy (UV therapy): Some skin problems (such as psoriasis) are helped by treatment with UV light. For a treatment known as PUVA, a drug called a psoralen is given first.  Another treatment option is the use of UVB alone (without a drug).
• Black-light lamps: These lamps use bulbs that give off UV rays (mostly UVA). The bulb also gives off some visible light, but it has a filter that blocks most of that out while letting the UV rays through.
• Mercury-vapor lamps: Mercury-vapor lamps can be used to light large public areas such as streets or gyms. UV exposure can only occur if the outer bulb is broken. Some mercury-vapor lamps are designed to turn themselves off when the outer bulb breaks.
• High-pressure xenon and xenon-mercury arc lamps, plasma torches, and welding arcs: Xenon and xenon-mercury arc lamps are used as sources of light and UV rays for many things, such as UV “curing” (of inks, coatings, etc.), video projection, fiber optics, disinfection, to simulate sunlight (to test solar panels, for example), and even in some car headlights. Most of these, along with plasma torches and welding arcs, are mainly of concern in terms of workplace UV exposure.

“Ablation is removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. Cardiac ablation is a procedure that can correct heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias).Cardiac ablation works by scarring or destroying tissue in your heart that triggers or sustains an abnormal heart rhythm. In some cases, cardiac ablation prevents abnormal electrical signals from entering your heart and, thus, stops the arrhythmia.”

American Heart Association

                 In this cardiac ablation, follow the pointer to the yellow spot in upper R atrium, is where the this ends procedure ends.

Macro-reentry circuit. Commonest form: typical anti-clockwise atrial flutter (70%) Positive flutter waves V1; negative flutter waves in inferior leads. Re-entry circuit in right atrium, anticlockwise dependent on tissue called cavo-tricuspid isthmus. CTI ablation.Anatomical procedure. Around 90% success. Bidirectional block confirmed. No transeptal approach stay on warfarin. INR’s above 2 for 3 weeks pre.

Ablation is a procedure used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. The type of arrhythmia and the presence of other heart disease will determine whether ablation can be performed surgically or non-surgically but ending line its removing of or destruction of tissue.

The term “arrhythmia” refers to any change from the normal sequence of electrical impulses. The electrical impulses may happen too fast, too slowly, or erratically – causing the heart to beat too fast, too slowly, or erratically. When the heart doesn’t beat properly, it can’t pump blood effectively. When the heart doesn’t pump blood effectively, the lungs, brain and all other organs can’t work properly and may shut down or be damaged.

Electrical signals control the pump=HEART
The heart beat (contraction) begins when an electrical impulse from the sinoatrial node (also called the SA node or sinus node) moves through it. The SA node is sometimes referred to as the heart’s “natural pacemaker” because it initiates impulses for the heartbeat.

The normal electrical sequence begins in the right atrium and spreads throughout the atria to the atrioventricular (AV) node. From the AV node, electrical impulses travel down a group of specialized fibers called the His-Purkinje system to all parts of the ventricles.

This exact route must be followed for the heart to pump properly. As long as the electrical impulse is transmitted normally, the heart pumps and beats at a regular pace. In an adult, a normal heart beats 60 to 100 times a minute.

Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is a painless, non-invasive procedure that records the heart’s electrical activity and can help diagnose arrhythmias.

Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
 Arrhythmias are abnormal beats. The term “arrhythmia” refers to any change from the normal sequence of electrical impulses, causing abnormal heart rhythms. Arrhythmias may be completely harmless or life-threatening.

Some arrhythmias are so brief (for example, a temporary pause or premature beat) that the overall heart rate or rhythm isn’t greatly affected. But if arrhythmias last longer, they may cause the heart rate to be too slow or too fast or the heart rhythm to be erratic – so the heart pumps less effectively.

• A fast heart rate (in adults, more than 100 beats per minute) is called tachycardia.
• A slow heart rate (less than 60 beats per minute) is referred to as bradycardia.

Causes

• Normally, the heart’s most rapidly firing cells are in the sinus (or sinoatrial or SA) node, making that area a natural pacemaker.
• Under some conditions almost all heart tissue can start an impulse of the type that can generate a heartbeat. Cells in the heart’s conduction system can fire automatically and start electrical activity. This activity can interrupt the normal order of the heart’s pumping activity.
• Secondary pacemakers elsewhere in the heart provide a “back-up” rhythm when the sinus node doesn’t work properly or when impulses are blocked somewhere in the conduction system.

An arrhythmia occurs when:

• The heart’s natural pacemaker develops an abnormal rate or rhythm.
• The normal conduction pathway is interrupted.
• Another part of the heart takes over as pacemaker.

“Amyloidosis can affect different organs in different people, and there are different types of amyloid.”

MAYO CLINIC

” There are dozens of STDs. Some STDs, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, are spread mainly by sexual contact. Other diseases, including Zika and Ebola, can be spread sexually but are more often spread through ways other than sex.”

CDC  Center for Disease Control