July is UV Safety Month and Sarcoma Awareness Month. Skin health is one of the most consistently under-assessed areas in women’s midlife healthcare, and the vitamin D conversation has become genuinely confused across current guidance. Both areas benefit from the biomarker literacy approach.
This session covers skin health assessment, vitamin D interpretation, and the connections between sun exposure history, skin cancer risk, and systemic vitamin D status. We’ll walk through what a proper full-body skin examination should include, the specific skin cancers most missed in women, and how to interpret vitamin D testing when the “normal” range varies dramatically between labs and practitioners.
Standard of care markers we’ll cover include annual dermatology skin exam, vitamin D 25-hydroxy, and standard basal and squamous cell carcinoma screening. Emerging markers and assessments include high-resolution dermoscopy and full-body photography for melanoma tracking, vitamin D 1,25-dihydroxy in complex cases, skin cancer risk stratification tools, vitamin D optimization targeting beyond baseline sufficiency, and the specific dermatologic changes to monitor in perimenopause and menopause.
You’ll leave with a clear framework for annual skin assessment, understanding of vitamin D testing beyond a single number, and the specific questions to ask your dermatologist about your personal skin cancer risk profile.
