The way the system of the cards of destiny works is quite magical in many ways. First of all, instead of months, the year is divided into seven planetary periods, each 52 days long. They begin on your birthday each year. On your birthday each year you begin the Mercury period, which lasts for 52 days. The entire sequence is as follows:

Mercury – begins on your birthday, lasts 52 days Venus – lasts 52 days Mars- lasts 52 days Jupiter – lasts 52 days Saturn – lasts 52 days Uranus – lasts 52 days Neptune – starts 52 days before your next birthday

The dates that each of these periods begin can be calculated by simply adding 52 days to your birthday, and so on. For example, for someone born on December 5th, the dates would be

Mercury – December 5th Venus – January 27th Mars – March 20th Jupiter – May 11th Saturn – July 2nd Uranus – August 23rd Neptune – October 14th

These periods begin and end on the same dates, except on leap year for a small number of birthdays.

In each of these periods are generally found two cards (Neptune often has only one). These cards are not selected by you. They are calculated from the day of your birth. Thus these cards and the other ones in your ‘yearly spread’ as we call it, are all fixed from the moment of your birth. The two cards in each period, we call planetary period cards, govern these 52-day periods and tell you what will happen, and often who that will happen with. For example, someone who as a 4 of Hearts and a Jack of Diamonds in their Venus period might get married (4 of Hearts) to a young Diamond man (Jack of Diamonds). And often the cards that show up in our planetary periods are the very Birth Cards of people we know, ensuring us that they will be the ones that we will be interacting with at that time. It is amazing sometimes how uncannily this can work out. I remember when I took my first class in the cards I realized that I had an A of Hearts with a 2 of Clubs in Venus, right at that time. Well, Catherine Oxenberg, a famous actress whose Birth Card is a 2 of Clubs, was another student present in that class. And the A of Hearts represented my strong attraction to her. I was stunned when I discovered that, and a little embarrassed, thinking that she would know my secret.

These planetary period cards are important for understanding what is going on during these 52-day spans of time and helpful in making future predictions. But there are five other cards in the yearly spread that are actually a lot more powerful than these. We call these the Year-Long Influence Cards.

Year-Long Influence Cards

These five cards are the most powerful of all. Actually people from the special family of seven that we discussed in our last lesson only have three of these. But in either case, these are the cards to look for first when making some sort of determination about what a year holds in store for us. The five cards are: The Long Range Card The Pluto Card The Result Card The Environment Card The Displacement Card

The last two are the ones that the special ‘family of seven do not have. It is a bit complicated to explain why right now. Just chalk it up to their fixed natures for now. We will talk a bit about each of these cards now.

The Long Range Card is the most important of all. I call the headliner card for the year. It essentially points to something, or in some cases, someone, that will be the most important holder of your attention for any given year. I can often scan the Long Range Cards for someone and see how their future will unfold over a period of years. It is quite fascinating. But whenever I do cards reading on my weekly radio show, the first place I look is at the caller’s Long Range Card. Usually it will tell me everything I need to know. It is just that important. In addition, you have another Long Range Card found in the yearly spread for your Planetary Ruling Card, which does not appear in these free applications. When you want the entire picture of the year you will want to know both. I remember when I appeared on the Marilu Henner show a numbers of years back. She was studying her spreads and looking for cards that would represent the birth of her newborn son. There were no childbirth cards present. However, his Birth Card was her Long Range Card! When I pointed this out to her, her skepticism turned into surprise and wonder.

The Pluto Card and the Result Card are related. As we begin each year, they both, when their meaning is combined together, tell you what the challenges you will face this year. Sometimes these are cards of people you know, or will meet. Usually they represent something you want that you do not have as you begin your year. When this happens, they are an important goal. Other times these cards represent changes that you have been ignoring, but are necessary. We used to call these the challenge cards. The cool thing is that every year you are guaranteed to make these changes and the reward is your Result Card, which is always interpreted in a positive way. Sometimes it represents a quality you will possess and in some cases a person. I remember predicting the birth of my second son Michael because that year I had the King of Hearts, called the father card, as my Result Card. This is how easy and amazing this system is.

The Environment Card is always a blessing card that gives us gifts for the current year. It also can be a person, or it could be a money card, a move card, or a love card. Whatever it is each year, it will be something that is helping you. Wouldn’t you like to know what yours is?

The Displacement Card is equally important. It is a ‘locational’ card, though that is a bit difficult to explain in an introductory article like this. What it often does is pinpoint major years of success, fame, recognition, reward, or in some rare cases, caution. Some of the most important cycles of our life are heralded by our Displacement Card.

Your Birth Card has a yearly spread and so does your Planetary Ruling Card. So for most people this means you have two spreads to look at each year. With so many destiny cards, you have ample information about every month of the year, and the year in a general sense. All of this probably sounds a bit complicated. However, I guarantee you that you can learn this in an hour or less. Imagine, you invest an hour of your time to learn a tool that you can use for the rest of your life. I have business clients who spend thousands of dollars having me examine their yearly spreads to help them make business decisions.

Option trading in the world of stock market has a lot of income potential and it is full of monetary benefits if you pick and follow the right strategy. There are many option trading strategies that an investor can pick from. Depending on the impression you have about the direction of stock price movement, you can pick an option strategy.

There are several strategies for trading options that are used mostly such as bullish, bearish and neutral strategies. If you have an impression of the stock price going either way then bullish or bearish strategies are used. If you have no clue about the stock price movement then neutral strategy is the right strategy to pick.

When you expect the underlying stock price going up then bullish strategy should be used. However with this strategy it is crucial to examine the amount that the stock price can increase and the period in which the rally will occur. This examination will help the trader to pick the best trading strategy. Some of the most common bullish option trading strategies used in the stock market are the call buying strategy, the bull put spread, bull call spread, short put strategy, the long call, the covered call, the protective put and the collar strategy. The call buying strategy is the most bullish strategy whereas the bull put spread and bull call spreads are the moderate ones. With this strategy you would make money as long as the stock price does not go down by the expiration date.

If you speculate that the underlying stock price will have a downward trend then bearish option trading strategy which is the opposite to the bullish strategy is the right one to pick. In the case of bearish strategy it is necessary to understand the level and also the time frame at which the prices of a stock will fall to pick the best trading strategy. Some of the commonly executed bearish strategies are short call, long put, short synthetic, put back spread, call bear spread, and put bear spread. The most bearish option trading strategy among all is the put buying strategy which is practiced mostly by beginners in this field. The call bear spread and the put bear spread are the moderately bearish options strategies.

When you are clueless about the movement of the underlying stock price then you should pick neutral option trading strategy which is also known as non-directional trading strategy. The potential profit depends on the volatility of the underlying stock price. Some common examples of neutral trading strategies are straddle and butterfly.

In straddle strategy you would buy or sell option derivatives. When the trader buys the derivative then it is known as a long straddle whereas when the trader sells the derivative it is known as a short straddle. Butterfly strategy is a less risky options trading strategy. This strategy includes two positions, the long butterfly position and the short butterfly position. When the future volatility is lower than the implied volatility then you would make profit in a long butterfly whereas in a short butterfly, you make a profit only when the future volatility of the underlying stock is higher than the implied volatility of the stock.

Besides these two neutral strategies, there are other commonly used strategies such as strangle, guts, risk reversal and condor.

There are many online programs and training courses that will teach you how to trade options and pick the right strategy that would fit your goals and trading style.

In Tarot, the signifier card (also sometimes referred to as the “significator card”) serves as a representation for someone or something in your current life. In most cases, people use the signifier card to represent themselves. In this respect, the signifier card is the central figure or question posed during a tarot reading. This is done by incorporating a person’s signifier card as a specific key card in a tarot spread. As the key card, the signifier represents the person or central issue being read with the surrounding cards relating back to it.

The beauty of signifier tarot cards is their ability to aide the tarot reader in remaining focused on a specific person or issue during a tarot reading. In essence, they are ensuring that the tarot reading stays on course. In most tarot readings, signifier cards are centrally positioned within the tarot spread. This helps the tarot reader to identify they key challenges the subject is faced with.

Signifier cards can also influence the design or pattern of a tarot spread. Depending on the needs of the subject, tarot readers will often incorporate spreads that are quite specific in nature. Signifier cards play an important role in determining the type of spread a tarot reader will choose to utilize during a tarot reading.

Typically signifier cards are identified through one’s astrological association to the tarot cards. Both the Major Arcana and the Court Cards have astrological associations. It’s really up to the individual to choose their own personal preference. Major Arcana cards tend to focus on developmental stages in a person’s life while Court cards focus on personality types and physical attributes. In general, most people prefer to work with the Court Cards because they tend to be more descriptive in nature.

When working with the Court Cards, one’s age can also play an important role. As a general rule, the Court Cards can represent various ages. Pages are associated to children and adolescents. Knights are associated to young adults. And Queens and Kings are associated with mature adults. Obviously, there is a great deal of flexibility in identifying signifier cards based on chronological age. Take, for example, the 50 your old man who still acts like a teenager.

The most important thing to remember when identifying a signifier card is your own personal associations to it. Signifier cards are really tools for the tarot reader. In the end, they are there to deepen the experience of the tarot reading.

Astrological Associations of the Major Arcana

•The Fool: Uranus

•The Magician: Mercury

•The High Priestess: Moon

•The Empress: Venus

•The Emperor: Aries

•The Hierophant: Taurus

•The Lovers: Gemini

•The Chariot: Cancer

•Strength: Leo

•The Hermit: Virgo

•Wheel of Fortune: Jupiter

•Justice: Libra

•The Hanged Man: Neptune

•Death: Scorpio

•Temperance: Sagittarius

•The Devil: Capricorn

•The Tower: Mars

•The Star: Aquarius

•The Moon: Pisces

•The Sun: Sun

•Judgment: Pluto

•The World: Saturn

Astrological Associations of the Court Cards

•Aries: King of Wands

•Taurus: Queen of Pentacles

•Gemini: Knight of Swords

•Cancer: King of Cups

•Leo: Queen of Wands

•Virgo: Knight of Pentacles

•Libra: King of Swords

•Scorpio: Queen of Cups

•Sagittarius: Knight of Wands

•Capricorn: King of Pentacles

•Aquarius: Queen of Swords

•Pisces: Knight of Cups

For more on Tarot Readings and Tarot Card Meanings please visit Carolyn’s blog.

Ever wonder where good physical health and emotional well-being come from?

Especially when we don’t have them, we long to know how to get them back.

Although scientific research can provide many answers, it can’t reach into the subtle realms of the metaphysical and mystical.

But during much of the 20th century, a renowned Greek Cypriot did just that. To some he was known as the “Magus of Strovolos.” To others, he was just a humble civil servant with an amazing grasp of languages, religions, human nature and the ability to heal serious illness.

He was called “Daskalos” (“teacher” in Greek) because he offered regular, daily lectures in a shed-like building behind his home for many years. He would speak of many truths to help people understand how they need to live their lives, and offer healing as well. This was his calling as a modern day Christian mystic.

As his reputation spread, more and more people came to him to get relief from physical and emotional ailments. He tirelessly helped them all.

At the end of the 1980’s, a young American university student of Sociology travelled to Cyprus to attend a few of Daskalos’ lectures. He soon realized the greatness of these teachings and became an assistant to the master.

During the next five years, Paul Skorpen dedicated his life to learning all he could from Daskalos. They became close companions as Paul helped him travel to wherever his teaching commitments would take him; countries in Europe, North and South America.

When Daskalos died in August, 1995 it was a crushing blow to many – especially his most dedicated student and dear friend Paul. After a period of mourning and finalizing projects, Paul and his wife-to-be Birgit left Cyprus and settled in southern Germany.

To spread and further develop the teachings of Daskalos, they founded the Theosis Institute of Mysticism and Healing in 1996.

As time went by, people would ask Paul if he could heal as Daskalos healed. Actually, he was unsure, but had been so closely involved in Daskalos’ work for so long, that he knew he had to try.

People did become well as Paul applied what he had learned from the master. But Paul understood also that there was even more to learn. He sought out further inspiration from the Holy Scriptures as well as Eastern medicine.

As his understanding of the healing process deepened, he was able to help more people, with deeper problems to lasting health and well-being.

His wife Birgit is also a teacher, author and key contributor to developing the work of the Institute.

Knowledge of the work being done by this dedicated couple has spread throughout several European countries and the US. Their contribution to our understanding of life, health and well-being is substantial.

They offer us all a chance to better understand ourselves and how we can attain – or regain – good health and a fine sense of well-being.

May their work – and the legacy it is built on – continue enriching the lives of students and healers they have trained, for many years to come.

Iron Condor Briefly Defined

An Iron Condor is an option spread trade constructed from two other separate spread trades–a bull put spread and a bear call spread.

It is essentially a bet that a stock won’t trade either above or below specified levels during a set period of time. If the stock closes at expiration within that range, the trader retains his or her maximum gain, which can be very lucrative on a ROI basis and for such a short period of time.

Like any option trading strategy, there are pros and cons to trading the iron condor.

Advantages

1. Double Premium. By far, the biggest advantage is the opportunity to collect twice as much premium as you would setting up only a single bull put spread or single bear call spread position.
2. A Single Safer Premium. You could also take a more conservative approach and choose to receive the same total net premium available on either a single bull put or bear call spread position. You theoretically take less risk (by setting the strike prices farther away from the current share price) and receive the same amount of money.
3. Guaranteed Maximum Gains on One-Half the Trade. Because the stock can’t simultaneously close both below the bull put strike price and above the bear call strike price, one of those legs is guaranteed to expire worthless, ensuring your maximum profits on that portion of the trade.
4. Double Leverage at Half the Price. Along the same lines, because the stock can’t close both below the low end of the range and above the high end of the range, an options-friendly broker will only require you to collateralize half the trade. Because you can’t sustain a loss on both the bull put and the bear call, your maintenance requirement (for options-friendly brokers) will be for the equivalent of just one of those trades.
5. Flexibility. Option trading, by its very nature, is flexible. That is also true with the iron condor. In the case of a big move in the share price of a stock on which you’ve constructed an iron condor, the underwater short option can be bought back for a loss and the corresponding long option allowed to remain open. If the stock continues its directional move, the long option will increase in value, offsetting and even potentially reversing the loss.

Disadvantages

1. Two Ways to Lose Instead of One. Because you’re betting that a stock won’t breach a specific trading level in either direction, you have essentially doubled the ways in which you can lose money.
2. Big Potential Losses. While your maximum potential gains on a ROI basis can be very lucrative, your maximum potential losses on a ROI basis can be much larger. If the stock makes a large, unexpected move in either direction, you will most likely sustain significant losses of the capital at risk.
3. Invites Over Leveraging. Because the required capital to set up a single iron condor is so little (the difference between the strike prices within either the bull put or bear call spread multiplied by 100 less the net premium received), and because that number won’t change throughout the holding period, it’s very easy to set up more iron condor positions than may be prudent.

Conclusion:

Iron condors can produce some tremendous rates of return. But they are definitely not without risk. Investors are advised to conduct additional and thorough research and consider all the risks involved before employing this strategy.

As responsible parents, it is your duty to prepare your children to face the complexities of life and accept the challenges before them boldly. For this, your little kids should learn various lessons that can help them to understand what is right and what is wrong in life. With the tremendous pressure on parents and the complexities of a nuclear family, very few parents find time to tell stories to their kids during bed time. In fact, the art of storytelling is somewhere lost. But if you are interested to develop your child’s overall personality, then find out some time for storytelling as it is an important part of childhood.

To start with the storytelling session, it is also important to choose books that share some moral or lesson with the kids. Tales of Tenali Raman are great stories that reflect wit, wisdom and brilliance. Tenali Ranakrishna was a 16th century poet at the court of Vijayanagara Empire in India. He lived in a town called Tenali and is remembered for his humor. He was originally called Ramalinga, but he later on converted to Vaishnavism and changed his name to Ramakrishna. In the Tenali Raman stories for kids, Tenali Ramakrishna is a folk hero of Andhra Pradesh who is stern and sarcastic in his wit. Many records state that Tenali Raman played an effective role in protecting the King Raya and his prestige during critical situations. Popular stories narrate how he protected the Vijayanagar Empire from the clutches of the Delhi Sultans through his perfect strategy interlaced with wit.

The tales of Tenali Raman are stories about the co-ordination of Raya and Tenali Raman, lifestyle and combination that spread the message of intellect. The tales are simply an attempt to present some of his activities for little kids so that they can learn lessons on practical life. The life of wise men and their wisdom are great resources that set great ideals for inspiration to those who follow. The entire society can benefit by reading such stories of wise men and the stories of Tenali Raman are a collection of tales that continue to entertain the kids as well as adults. The collection of stories is laced with wisdom and the qualities of the poet that have made him immortal in the India history. The tales are passed from generations after generations and are retold in simple and easy language that little kids can easily understand. Some popular stories are Tenali Raman and Two Thieves, Thousand Gold Coins and a Handful Grain, Tenali Raman and the Three Horses and etc.

The tales of Tenali Raman are amazing stories for the kids and parents can easily put analytical and practical thinking to work through these well written pieces that are great lessons of wisdom. So, if you are interested to read the stories of Tenali Raman, then all you have to do is to search few websites that share the adventures of the prominent poet. You can read the stories aloud to your kids and help them gain practical knowledge. The big advantage of reading these stories is to help them with the overall development and expose them to the challenges of life and how to overcome them easily.

Because the human papillomavirus (HPV) is spread through skin to skin contact, it is quite common for genital warts to be spread through foreplay. Penetration is not necessary and a condom will not necessarily protect you from genital warts even in foreplay because it may not cover all of the affected area.

The virus that causes genital warts is passed by direct contact during foreplay or intercourse with a wart or skin that is infected with the virus. It is possible to get the warts on the hands and in the mouth during foreplay or oral sex. About 50 percent of the people who are infected with HPV never develop genital warts, but are still capable of transmitting the virus to others through foreplay or intercourse. Intimate skin contact such as dry humping and genital to genital contact during foreplay can easily transmit the virus that causes warts.

The reason a condom may not protect you during intercourse or foreplay is that it does not cover the base of a man’s penis, his pubic hair or scrotum (places where HPV may lurk).Skin to skin contact is all that is necessary so rubbing during foreplay (when a condom often isn’t used) can deposit the virus. Washing with soap and water after foreplay or sexual intercourse can help reduce your chances of getting genital warts during foreplay.

For many people with HPV infection, there are no obvious signs of infection, such as genital warts. However, if warts are present, a doctor can diagnose HPV infection by their characteristic appearance and by obtaining a history of how they may have been obtained through sexual intercourse or foreplay. In women, doctors often use a colposcope, (a telescope with a very powerful magnifying lens) to diagnose genital warts. PAP smears can also be good indicators of HPV infection.

If you know that you are infected with genital warts, it is very important that you tell your partner before you engage in foreplay or intercourse. Then your partner can make an informed decision about whether it is worth the risk.

If you have genital warts, talk to your doctor about ways to minimize the chances of infecting a partner during foreplay or intercourse. Your physician can advise you on the best way to manage your sexual life, including foreplay, when you are infected with HPV.

Promoting the name of your business and spreading the word about it to your prospective clients or customers is not an easy task. Marketing techniques come in a long list and one of the best strategies on this would be promotional items. Promotional items will help you reach out to your clients while having the opportunity to advertise yourself or your business name to them effectively. One of the best advantages that promotional items have to offer would be high retention levels. In other words, they help you make your clients remember. If you choose the best giveaway for your clients, you can be assured that they will keep it. One of the best things that you can give out for free would be promotional pens, promotional umbrellas, and promotional mugs. All of these things are handy and people can make use of them every single day, which means that you get the opportunity to advertise your business on a daily basis with these without having to spend a huge sum of money. I can assure you that none of these things will end up in the garbage can as to the reason that they can be of great use to people.

Message longevity is another advantage that promotional items can offer you and your business. Promotional items may not be that attractive or glamorous as compared to advertisements aired on TV but they make up for these things with longevity. TV advertisements can cause a huge amount of impact on people however; they cost too much and they have a huge tendency to be forgotten easily within just a short period of time. Promotional items on the other hand, offer you the opportunity to advertise your business name for a long period of time, which makes them very cost effective. The opportunity to promote your business with these things can even last for many years. I am pretty sure that you’ve received a promotional cap many years ago. Now, is that thing still inside your house? It probably is. That is perfect proof as to how powerful promotional items are.

Next on the list of advantages that you will be able to get from using promotional items would be client loyalty. Promotional merchandise are not just use for show as to the reason that these things can actually cause a big impact on how your clients perceive you and your business company. These things will serve as links that will help you convince your clients to go to you instead of choosing your competitors.

WorldSpreads was founded in Ireland in 2000, but traded first as a spread better on sporting events and only entered the financial markets in 2005. Thus it is still one of the younger and smaller spread betting providers that are available for the financial trader. Having said that, it has FSA approval, including foreign exchange, options, and futures, and it is listed on the AIM, the alternative stock market for small companies.

WorldSpreads is now headquartered in London, and has offices in many other countries. The Irish connection was severed in 2009, realizing funds which have been used for development of a new trading interface, the XEQT, among other things. It has developed several strategic partnerships, including providing all financial spread betting services for Ladbrokes, the bookmaker.

The current financial incentive for signing up a new account at WorldSpreads is that it will cover your losses up to £250. This is for the period of the first eight weeks of your trading, and provided your account was opened with at least £500. This obviously doesn’t prevent you from losing money, particularly when you are trading a leveraged product like spread betting, but provides a useful cushion if you are just starting to trade, when you might expect to take a few weeks until you get the hang of it and start profiting.

WorldSpreads allows you to operate your account any of three currencies, pounds Sterling, Euros, or US dollars, thus avoiding currency exchange charges, and the minimum spread bet is £1, except for the S&P markets which require a £10 minimum bet. The maximum bet is £100 for the markets that have a one point spread, and larger bets attract a three point spread. Many markets have the one point spread, which makes WorldSpreads one of the more competitive spread betting providers. It allows dealing in more than 3000 markets, and also welcomes telephone dealing, which is good to have if only as a safeguard from your computer going down.

While WorldSpreads are not open 24 hours during the working week, they do offer extended hours as they answer their phone between 7 am and 9.15 pm London time. As with most brokers, you may find that the spreads increase when you are trading outside hours, and this is for the obvious reason that the broker must take on more risk without being able to unload it on to the market.

WorldSpreads offer instant execution of your trades via their online interface, or on the phone, and users report that this is normally works well; however, sometimes intended trades are referred to dealers for confirmation, and this does delay matters. Some users report that this does not seem to happen if they are placing losing trades, and only if they start winning, but this sort of reaction is found amongst some users for all brokers.

What we like about World Spreads

We like the small spreads (which are tighter than IG Index or City Index), and a good range of products available at WorldSpreads. World Spreads, while not having the record of some others, offers good value and is worth trying out.

Of all the skin cancers, malignant melanoma is the most serious. It accounts for approximately 75% of all skin cancer deaths and is the sixth most common form of cancer. This can be directly attributed to the fact that melanoma, unless treated early, usually metastasises to other organs.

The first place melanoma traditionally metastasises to are the lymph nodes near the site of the skin cancer. The lymph nodes are part of the lymphatic system and play an important role in immune system function. Special white blood cells called lymphocytes circulate in the body seeking out foreign cells. They return to the nodes where the foreign bodies are identified and the cells are specialised to fight that particular infection. From the node, they flow back into the blood stream, following it to the foreign cells, which they then attack.

When an infection is present, lymph nodes are commonly swollen. This is due to the large amounts of B cells, the specialised lymphocytes responsible for creating antibodies. When cancer is present, the nodes usually become enlarged and may appear as a hard knot. However, if there are only a few cancer cells, this is not always the case. If melanoma metastasises to the lymph nodes found in the chest or abdomen, patients may experience shortness of breath or backache.

Malignant melanoma may also spread to the liver, brain, lungs, or digestive tract. Cases of advanced ocular melanoma, or melanoma of the eye, metastasise to the liver in 95% of cases. In some cases, there are no symptoms of hepatic melanoma. Those that do experience symptoms may have nausea, weight loss, fever, jaundice, sweats or pain in the upper right area of the abdomen.

Approximately half of malignant melanoma tumors metastasise to the brain. Seizures are the most common symptom, appearing in 25 to 37% of patients. Symptoms can vary depending on where the tumors appear in the brain. However, in cases of metastatic brain cancer, some are more common. These include headaches, bleeding, nausea, vomiting, swelling, and impairment of motor or mental function. If sensory organs in the brain are involved, patients may have problems with hearing or vision as well.

Melanoma of the lung is rare. According to statistics, it is responsible for less than one percent of tumors in the lungs. There aren’t always symptoms of this condition. Some people do experience a cough that does not respond to usual treatment, shortness of breath or fluid buildup that leads to pleural effusion (collection of fluid next to the lung). If pleural effusion is present, patients may have discomfort in the chest.

In the digestive tract, melanoma is often misdiagnosed due to its tendency to mimic the appearance of other more common disorders. Symptoms are not always present, but may include difficulty swallowing, a full sensation in the abdomen, blockage of the digestive tract or pain in the abdominal area.

With malignant melanoma, preventing metastases is critical. Once tumors metastasise, they can have devastating effects on the body. In some cases, death may result.

Everyone should know the ABCD’s of melanoma; A for Asymmetry, B for Border, C for Colour and D for Diameter.  If melanoma is suspected, it should be checked immediately. Early detection increases the chances of survival from what can otherwise a fatal disease.