Cooper Wellness Offers Sunscreen Tests and Other Dermatological Services

At Cooper Wellness, which offers healthy stay-overs at on-site lodgings in Dallas, clients can learn how to prevent skin cancer--the nation's deadliest cancer--and have skin screenings performed. Over a million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. yearly, with 10,000 Americans dying from it annually—often due to sun overexposure.

Cooper Wellness programs are designed to help clients become healthy both inside and out. “We must not neglect our skin, the body's largest organ,” says board-certified dermatologist Dr. Rick Wilson of Cooper Clinic. “As an important barrier, skin provides immunity to health threats, along with significant hydration and vitamin-producing functions.” Cooper Wellness is affiliated with the acclaimed Cooper Clinic, offering preventive and cosmetic dermatology services.

Cooper physicians recommend a comprehensive, skin-cancer test annually. During an annual dermatological visit, a Cooper physician performs a head-to-toe exam to screen for cancers, pre-cancerous conditions and atypical moles. Past sun exposure and any family history of skin cancer are discussed with the patient, and sun-protection measures are recommended.

Dermatological services--both preventive and cosmetic--can be added to Cooper Wellness stays, says Todd Whitthorne, executive director of Cooper Wellness. Surface-mole removals are performed at the clinic. Chemical peels are done to treat sun-damaged and aging skin. Hand-rejuvenation treatments are available to reduce signs of aging. Laser treatments, including Fractional Laser Resurfacing, FotoFacials and Vasculight treatments are performed. Botox and Dysport are used to reduce wrinkles and to treat excessive, underarm sweating. For healthier-looking skin, replacement fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane are available, as are collagen stimulators that are delayed and longer lasting--like Sculptra and Radiesse.

Cooper Clinic dermatologists recommend dressing in light clothes in the heat, but also taking precautions to avoid sunburn. For anyone outside longer than 15 to 20 minutes, sunscreen with a rating of at least 20 to 30 SPF should be worn.

Dr. Riva Rahl, medical director of Cooper Wellness and staff physician at Cooper Clinic, says “for long periods outdoors and for sunbathing, it's mandatory to use sunscreen. If you're at the beach and it's overcast, you still need it. And if you're next to the water under an umbrella, sunscreen is necessary because indirect rays can be as damaging as direct rays.”

At Cooper Wellness, clients can pick up a product introduced this spring called the Cooper Complete Dermatologic Health supplement, developed by Cooper Clinic dermatologists and physicians. These supplements provide nutrients proven to promote healthy skin, hair and nails, and are meant to be used with broad-spectrum sunscreens.

Dr. Adean Kingston, a board-certified dermatologist at Cooper Clinic, says “our new supplement has ingredients like lutein and polypodium leucotomas that help prevent skin damage, reduce the risk of skin cancers and may help slow signs of skin aging from harmful ultraviolet radiation.”

Cooper Wellness also wants to make sure that clients using sunscreen get enough vitamin D. After almost three years of testing, Cooper Clinic found that 82 percent of first-time patients had lower than desirable D levels. And in a study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 77 percent of American adolescents and adults were vitamin-D deficient. Deficiencies were particularly high in people with darker skin.

Sunscreen use, along with obesity, reduces vitamin D absorption. Many people don’t eat enough fish, which is high in vitamin D, and while certain foods like milk are fortified with D, lots of milk has to be consumed to meet vitamin D requirements. While most clinical studies recommend bare-bones, minimum vitamin-D blood levels of 30 nanograms per milliliter, Cooper Clinic strongly suggests maintaining a level of 40 nanograms or better.

Whitthorne says, “during a healthy stay at Cooper Wellness, clients have all the dermatological services of Cooper Clinic at their disposal to discuss skin conditions, sunscreen use and vitamin D requirements.“

For more information on the Cooper Wellness and their 6-day and 2-day wellness programs go to http://www.cooperwellness.com/ or call 972-386-4777.

MEDIA ADVISORY:

For more information or to arrange an interview with Todd Whitthorne, executive director at Cooper Wellness, please contact Jo Trizila, TrizCom, at (972) 247-1369 or (214) 232-0078.

To view a recent NBC story featuring Whitthorne go here (http://www.cooperaerobics.com/News-Room/Media-Library.aspx.)

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