Skin Facts

• Your skin is considered the largest organ in the human body.
• Your skin is made up of three major layers – epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis (also called the subcutaneous tissue).
• Your skin protects your inside organs while keeping infections out and prevents you from getting sick.
• Your skin loses about 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells from the surface almost every minute, even though you do not see it happening.
• Your skin sheds a layer of these dead cells every 24 hours and renews itself about every 28 days.
• Your skin swells when it absorbs water.
• Your skin contains a protein called keratin which is also found in hair and nails
• Your skin is the thinnest on the eyelid.
• Goose bumps are actually little pimples that help retain a layer of warm air over our body.

Did you know?

• One person dies every hour from skin cancer
• One in five Americans will develop skin cancer
• 85% of all aging is due to sun damage
• Skin cancer in women under the age of 40 has tripled in the past 30 years
• Five sunburns doubles a woman’s chance of getting skin cancer
• UV exposure at tanning salons is just as risky as sunbathing outside
• People with fair skin that burns rather than tans, people who have red hair, and people with blue eyes are at greater risk of developing skin cancer
• People who have extensive freckling on their upper back are at a greater risk of developing skin cancer
• People who have a history of sunburns, especially during childhood, are at a greater risk for skin cancer
• The depletion of the ozone layer may be significantly affecting the incidence of melanoma
• Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun between 10 am and 3 pm and exposure at high altitudes are the most dangerous times to be exposed to the sun
• Those with an impaired immune system–especially those who have had an organ transplant, leukemia, or lymphoma–are at a great risk of melanoma

• According to one study, the use of a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher during the first 18 years of life would cut lifetime risk of melanoma by 78%