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Tanning Beds & Melanoma


Once the almost exclusive domain of bodybuilders, tanning beds can be found in almost every town in America and are frequently used by men and women of all ages. In fact, their use is on the rise among the younger population, where tans are equated with a healthy, athletic lifestyle. Unfortunately the nearly 30 million people who go to tanning salons are taking risks with their health.

Those risks are numerous and can be life threatening; everything from infections and burns to skin cancer. The latest study, which appears in the June issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, details the increased risk associated with melanoma.

This new study is one of the largest to assess the skin cancer risk that tanning beds pose. It included 1,167 melanoma patients, as well as a control group consisting of age- and gender-matched people. Researchers found an increased risk among users of tanning beds, whether they were high-speed machines (which emit some UVB rays) and high-pressure machines (which emit mostly UVA rays).

Consumers using tanning beds had a 74 percent increased risk for melanoma compared to those who never frequented a tanning salon. And for those who spend more than 50 hours under those indoor UV rays, the risk triples. Even worse, the newer high-pressure tanning beds can increase the risk to four times.

“Although some people think that a tan gives them a ‘healthy’ glow, any tan is a sign of skin damage,” says Sharon Miller, M.S.E.E., a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and international expert on UV radiation and tanning. “A tan is the skin’s reaction to exposure to UV rays,” says Miller. “Recognizing exposure to the rays as an ‘insult,’ the skin acts in self-defense by producing more melanin, a pigment that darkens the skin. Over time, this damage will lead to prematurely aged skin and, in some cases, skin cancer.”

Since 2003, UV radiation from any source has been listed by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as a known carcinogen (cancer-causing substance). Currently, many government agencies caution against tanning. Yet of the more than 68,000 people in the United States who will learn they have melanoma this year and one out of eight will die from it, according to NCI estimates. In addition, the American Academy of Dermatology reports that melanoma is the second most common cancer in women 20 to 29 years old.

The bottom line is that long-term exposure to UV rays, whether from the sun or a tanning bed, increases the risk of developing skin cancer. However, there are alternatives. Instead of using a tanning bed, the American Cancer Society advises people to use sunless self-tanning creams, lotions or sprays along with regular skin checks by your doctor or dermatologist.

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