There was a time when public health messages surrounding tobacco and the dangers of smoking went largely unheeded, despite decades of scientific and medical data clearly linking cigarettes to fatal diseases such as lung cancer. In that climate, tobacco executives could stand in front of Congress and claim that they didn't believe nicotine was addictive, magazines ran ads targeting youth (featuring Joe Camel) and movie stars (such as James Dean) made smoking seem cool.
Today, things are different -- very different. You no longer see or hear advertisements for cigarettes, unless you're buying them at a convenience store or gas station. Characters smoking cigarettes have all but disappeared from the airwaves -- and there's even a non-profit group, Smoke-Free Movies, pushing to remove smoking scenes from films. And with local, state and federal health officials running anti-tobacco PSAs galore, the American public has never been better educated about the dangers of smoking.
Now, we find ourselves in a similar public health fight against another cancer-causing habit: tanning, and indoor tanning in particular. California and more than 30 other states have laws to help protect young people from the negative effects of indoor tanning, the use of which increases the risk of melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- by 75 percent. In fact, the World Health Organization classified indoor tanning devices in the same cancer-causing category as tobacco smoke.
Despite all this, each year, more than two million teens tan indoors. Their access to tanning salons is astounding. A recent survey of 116 U.S. cities found an average of 42 tanning salons per city, which means tanning salons are more prevalent than Starbucks or McDonald's. And just as James Dean and the Marlboro Man once convinced entire generations of young people that smoking was cool and healthy, the prevalence of tanning amongst celebrities -- such as those starring on a popular MTV reality show whose mantra is "gym, tan, laundry" -- is making our fight more difficult.
Compounding the problem is that more than 43 percent of indoor tanners have never been warned about the dangers of tanning beds from tanning salon employees, according to a recent survey of Caucasian teens and young women by the American Academy of Dermatology. In addition, national data on skin cancer shows an increase in the rate of melanoma amongst young, white women. In women 15 to 29-years-old, the torso is the most common location for developing melanoma, which might be due to high-risk tanning behaviors. In my practice, I have had patients -- young women with a history of using tanning beds -- who have died from melanoma. The indoor tanning industry needs to take responsibility for educating its patrons so that they can make informed decisions. However, as we do with alcohol and tobacco laws, we need to protect our nation's young people because research shows they are not heeding health warnings.
So with pop culture's influence on one side, who can help push back? The answer is hinted at in the Academy's survey. One of the findings shows a whopping 94 percent of indoor tanners say their parents are aware that they're using, or have used, a tanning bed. Not only are parents aware, but the survey shows 65 percent of indoor tanners have a family member who uses a tanning bed.
The health risks from tanning are well-documented and we need to talk to our kids about the risks and set a good example by not participating in this behavior ourselves -- the same approach we as parents take with tobacco. (A simple visit to aad.org will arm you with helpful information: there is an entire section on indoor tanning dangers.)
As much data as there is to make the case against indoor tanning, in the end, it's setting a good example in the home, and encouraging conversations between kids and their moms, dads or caregivers that have the greatest impact.
It's this approach that can help save our kids' lives.
Ronald L. Moy, M.D., FAAD, is a dermatologist and president of the American Academy of Dermatology, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois.
WHO: Tanning Beds Cause Cancer
Tanning beds now listed among top cancer risks - USATODAY.com
Study: Tanning beds as deadly as arsenic - Health - Cancer - msnbc.com
Tanning Beds Substantially Raise Skin Cancer Risks : Shots ...
I finally developed love for white skin that I naturally have, but I already did so much damage. My whole body is covered in brown spots and I am still looking for treatments to remove them.
I also noticed that people who don't tan at all look amazing after 40, and people who do look like they are in their 60's.
Not only that , but two of my friends developed Melanoma from the same tanning bed they were using and in the same spot.
Now I just love love love how my skin looks and I would never go back to looking like a fried chicken again.
http://www.lovingfit.com
I definitely avoid going outside a lot and when I do, I use sunblock 100.
In defense of the sun: An estimate of changes in mortality rates in the United States if mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were raised to 45 ng/mL by solar ultraviolet-B irradiance.
Grant WB.
SUNARC; San Francisco, CA USA.
Emerging scientific evidence strongly supports the beneficial role of vitamin D in reducing the risk of incidence and death from many chronic and infectious diseases. This study estimates increases in melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer mortality rates and decreases in chronic and infectious disease mortality rates in the US from the standpoint of approximately doubling population doses of solar UVB to increase mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels from 16 ng/mL for black Americans and 25 ng/mL for white Americans to 45 ng/mL. The primary benefits are expected to come from reductions in cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Although a few thousand excess deaths per year might occur from melanoma and skin cancer, the avoided premature death rate could be near 400,000/ year, with most of the avoided deaths coming late in life. While oral sources of vitamin D could be used instead of UVB or when UVB irradiance is not available, public health policies do not yet recommend the 3,000-4,000 IU/day required to raise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to the levels required for optimal health, which would be required before vitamin D fortification levels in food can be raised. Until then, moderate solar UVB irradiance remains an import source.
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/lizhayes/291312/dying-for-a-tan
Anyhoo, that all changed with cheap continental holidays and neighbours started coming home
all bronzed and peeling. We suddenly became aware of our corpse veneer and began succumbing to 'peel' pressure.
I can recall my parents buying a sun tanning thingy back in the seventies. It was about the size of a toaster, you opened it up and laid in front of it wearing tiny green goggles to keep your eye flaps white. It also had an infra red setting for something or other. Anyway, the end result was you came away feeling tight skinned and smelling like someone who regularly photographed A-bomb tests.
Then one day my dad fell asleep in front of this box for like an hour. The next day he was staggering around our house like a Hiroshima survivor. School friends would ask me if my father had been in an explosion. And why was I carrying a half dozen bottles of calamine lotion?
To this day I shun the sun and all it's technological minions. And whenever I drive past a tanning salon, I always see him in my mind. Half man, half lobster, my father.
One is making us more healthy while the other is making us more susceptible to illnesses.
Can you guess which of the two inventions that does what?
No, it is not like you think and have been indoctrinated to believe.
In reality, the tanning bed is a device that can help our bodies to make Vitamin D in a natural way independent of location, time and weather. A high level of Vitamin D has been proved to be one of the best protections towards most kind of cancers and other common diseases.
Sun protection cosmetics, on the other hand, destroys the delicate balance between UV-light and human skin that has evolved during millions of years. By blocking UVB, SPF-cosmetic prevents the skin to produce Vitamin D, even in sunlight.
To compare tanning beds to tobacco is unfair, and an example of the cheap PR-tricks used by the "sun-scare" mafia.
The tanning bed is probably one of the most powerful and cost-efficient means to improve the overall health of the population. Tobacco does nothing good at all.
The referral to recommendations by WHO, makes the arguments presented like carved in stone. In reality, there are certainly no reliable evidence that tanning beds are dangerous if used correctly. And the statistic presented by WHO is labelled "scientific fraud" by many real experts on the subject.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_CrPZLbkE8
Goran "http://TheTanningGuru.com"
Yes, you can increase your level of Vitamin D by taking supplements. I have tested that on myself, but that is not the natural way.
If you want to have the exact blueprint for how to keep your Vitamin D level high, see this post:
http://thetanningguru.com/do-you-know-how-to-tan
In my opinion, the main function of tanning beds is to give us the possibility to get Vitamin D the way nature intended it (but with some help from modern technology) at any location, at any time and in any weather.
I always had the premium and hottest beds. Sometimes, I'd visit them twice in one day. I also bought expensive tan exceleretors to make me even darker. I was chocolate.
If I went out of town on vacation, I'd buy sessions there.
I was also a 2 pk a day smoker. I quit taning and quit smoking.
But, who in the world seriously doesn't know this about tanning beds? And they are not even addictive, not to mention that *white* is the new *tan.* Tans are as outdated as being as skinny as Callista Flockart (too lazy to spell check) because it looks like it will lead to botox, mega skin sanding, and fillers. Who does not KNOW this?!
My mother was ahead of her time and used hats, sunglasses, and sunblock starting in the 60s! She is one of the whitest people you've ever seen and her skin is nearly flawless for her age without a single medical procedure.
I often have to work in the sun and it is all I can do to cover up and re-apply sunscreen. Who would do this on purpose? Doesn't anybody remember George Hamilton? Gross! And look at Goldie Hawn! No, no, no. For vanity's sake (even if you don't care about your health) stay away from the *bleep *bleeping tanning beds!
Stupidity is legal. It should remain so.