The sun has got his hat on, but have you? The number of people with aggressive skin cancer has continued to rise, reports the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation IKNL on Friday. On Saturday, it will hold the fifth national skin cancer day to offer free checks and bring together patient associations, doctors and other experts. The organisation reports that in the last 15 years, the numbers of Dutch people with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer, has risen dramatically from 1554 in 1990 to 5887 in 2015. One in five Dutch people is expected to get some form of skin cancer, making it one of the most common forms of cancer in the Netherlands. Most diagnosed cases are curable, and in 2014 there were 53,000 skin cancer patients recently registered – as many as all new breast, colon, lung and prostate cancer together. But, the organisation warns, specialists fear this is the ‘tip of the iceberg’, due to a change in behaviour. Chronic sun exposure due to outdoor work has decreased, but short, intense doses have increased with modern holidays, sunbathing and the use of tanning beds. Tomorrow, people who have enrolled in advance – registration is now closed due to demand – can have a free skin cancer check and find out about reducing the risks. Last year’s checks discovered 250 visitors with a form of skin cancer, 50 probably a melanoma.  More >

Chemical company Dupont was aware of the dangers presented by chemical compound C8 in the 1980s but continued to produce it in Dordrecht until 2012, the AD said on Wednesday. The former Dupont plant - now Chemours - is at the centre of a health scare after the Dutch public health institute said last week that some people living close to factory have too much of the toxic chemical in their blood. The AD says documents by Dupont researchers dating from 1982 recommend production be phased out because locals are being exposed to a potential carcinogenic substance. Dupont finally stopped production of C8, used to make non-stick Teflon, in 2012 after further research into the health impact. MPs are due to debate the health situation around the plant later on Wednesday. The company told the AD it had always acted responsibly in the light of the information available at the time.   More >

People in their 50s and 60s with an unhealthy lifestyle can still halve their risk of developing dementia by cutting out bad habits, using their brains more and taking more exercise, according to researchers at Maastricht University and Utrecht's teaching hospital. The impact of lifestyle changes still has an impact on the dementia risks of people in their 70s but not any older, according to the article in the new online edition of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The researchers have developed an predictive index known as LIBRA to determine the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's based purely on risk factors that can be altered. 'Many people think dementia cannot be avoided but that is not the case,' project coordinator Sebastian Kohler told the NRC. 'It has already been calculated that if everyone lived a healthy lifestyle, the number of Alzheimer patients would go down by a third.' The index is based on 300 factors known to have a role in developing dementia including depression, diabetes, lack of physical activity, hypertension, obesity, smoking, coronary heart disease, and mild or moderate alcohol use. The research is based on following nearly 10,000 people who took part in six major European programmes on dementia.  More >

A 12-year-old boy from North Holland with cancer has the right to refuse chemotherapy, a Dutch court ruled on Friday. The NOS reports that David, who was operated on for a brain tumour last year, does not have to have further follow-up chemotherapy. He had undergone six weeks of daily radiation treatment last year, after the tumour had been successfully removed, but said he wanted to have alternative therapies instead of chemotherapy due to its side effects. The boy’s parents are divorced, and while his mother believes in alternative therapies, his father went to court to try to persuade judges to rule that David should have further medical care against his will. Self-determination The boy had been under the care of social workers since last year, when his mother refused to cooperate with treatment, according to media reports. But a judge in Alkmaar ruled on Friday that David has the right to decide on his care, even if this reduces his chances of survival. ‘He is especially concerned about the side effects of chemotherapy and the deterioration of his quality of life,’ said a judge. ‘Major medical procedures require his consent, taking into consideration his right to self-determination…David has apparently made his decision in terms of his quality of life now.’ 50% survival chance Court documents had suggested that with the follow-up chemotherapy, the boy’s chances of survival were 75% to 80%, but without it, they would be 50%. David’s father believes the boy gives contradictory signals, wanting to end it all but making plans for the future, reports the Volkskrant. A psychiatrist had told the court, however, that David is not depressed, has a strong will to live but can also contemplate death. Martine de Vries, a paediatrician from Leiden University’s teaching hospital, LUMC, told broadcaster NOS that the verdict confirmed that a child of 12 ‘has a very important voice in deciding such treatment’ and that even divorced parents need ‘to keep the child’s interests in mind’. The judge added in court that it can be ‘hard for parents’ to let a child make such a decision. In Netherlands, children from the age of 12 are also seen as old enough to seek to end their own lives through the 2002 euthanasia law, under certain conditions of unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement.     More >