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>>Narrator: BEFORE BONNIE GRIMALDI TENDS TO HER FLOWERS OUTSIDE, SHE SPENDS TIME INSIDE
PUTTING ON PLENTY OF PROTECTION - AFTER LEARNING THE HARD WAY JUST HOW MUCH DAMAGE THE SUN
COULD DO.
>>Bonnie Grimaldi: “There was a red, rough area right in my collar bone, and it just
wouldn’t go away.”
>>Narrator: TURNS OUT, THAT SPOT WAS BASAL CELL SKIN CANCER.
WITH HER FAIR SKIN AND BLONDE HAIR, DOCTORS KNOW PEOPLE LIKE BONNIE ARE AT A HIGHER RISK
FOR SKIN CANCER. WHAT THESE RESEARCHERS WANTED TO KNOW IS WHY
SOME CASES ARE HARDER TO CURE THAN OTHERS.
>> Chris Fagundes, Ph.D.: “What we were particularly interested in was, what predicts
people to have the subsequent tumor. What is it?”
>>Narrator: TO FIND OUT, RESEARCHERS AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY’S WEXNER MECIAL CENTER
TRACED THE HISTORY OF OTHER SKIN CANCER PATIENTS ALL THE WAY BACK TO THEIR CHILDHOODS.
AND IN A SURPRISING NEW STUDY, RESEARCHERS CHRIS FAGUNDES AND RONALD GLASER FOUND THAT
PATIENTS WHO WERE NEGLECTED OR MALTREATED AS CHILDREN, HAD A MUCH HIGHER RISK FOR PERSISTENT
SKIN CANCER - ESPECIALLY WHEN FACED WITH STRESSFUL EVENTS AS ADULTS.
>>Ronald Glaser, Ph.D.: “What happens in early childhood can have significant impact
when you’re 65 years old. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”
>>Narrator: IN FACT, SOME PATIENTS SHOWED A 350-PERCENT DROP IN THEIR IMMUNE RESPONSE.¹
SUGGESTING THAT - EVEN AT AN EARLY AGE - THE STRESS OF BEING MISTREATED CAN PERMANENTLY
AFFECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.
>>Chris Fagundes, Ph.D.: “So, subsequently, when they experience stressors in adulthood,
they’re more reactive to them.”
>>Narrator: BONNIE SAYS HER CHILDHOOD WAS HAPPY AND HEALTHY - AND HER SKIN CANCER HAS
MORE TO DO WITH HER COMPLEXION THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
BUT FOR OTHER PATIENTS, EXPOSURE TO STRESS AS A CHILD MAY INTENSIFY EXPOSURE TO THE SUN
LATER IN LIFE. AT OHIO STATE’S WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER, THIS IS CLARK POWELL REPORTING.