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Keratoses

Keratoses

The main reason why most keratoses are considered to be dangerous is because they can cause some forms of skin cancer known as Squamous cell carcinoma. The risk of developing Squamous cell carcinoma from Keratosis may be higher than 15% depending on the rate of growth of the Keratosis as well as other factors such as exposure of the skin continuously to keratosis agents such as the Sun and lack of treatment. If your actinic keratosis development becomes ulcerated or thickened then you will need to get it checked as such may become malignant in nature and possibly lead to skin cancer.

Aside the development of basal cell carcinoma, people who develop keratoses can also develop malignant melanoma which is a form of advanced keratosis that is characterized by serious discolouration as well as losing of some part of the skin. Though, seborrheic keratoses are mostly found in older people, however , they can be found in anyone , including some infants. Seborrheic keratosis is regarded as one of the most prominent benign growths of  keratosis in older people. Though Seborrheic keratoses are benign in nature, however continuous exposure of such growth to excessive sun rays will lead to itching and expansion of the lesions, these may result in a painful and a more malignant growing keratosis that must be treated.

Seborrheic keratosis developments are common in people older than 50 and it is quite hereditary in nature, as a matter of fact more than 95% of cases of seborrheic keratosis occur as a result of  some underlying hereditary problems which makes such people highly predisposed to the infection. Seborrheic keratoses are benign growths and not harmful, although that can grow quite large and can be cosmetically displeasing.  Actinic keratosis is more dangerous than seborrheic keratosis but it can be treated much more easily. Seborrheic keratosis can only be handled by altering the genetic predisposition to the condition.

Some of the known features of Keratoses include the following; Keratosis resembles warts in nature, it is characterized with waxy , scaly and slightly elevated appearances, varies in size but up to a maximum diameter of 2.5cm, appear in various colours ranging from light tan to black, and they can be round or oval in shape. Any keratosis growth that looks even slightly different from these features can be dangerous and must be reported immediately to a physician.

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Actinic Keratoses