The Indoor Tanning Craze - A Tan to Die for!

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The Indoor Tanning Craze - A Tan to Die for!

Apr 24, 2007 07:06 PDT

 

January 15, 2007

Understanding The Danger Of Tanning Beds

 

Whenever a glowing tan becomes fashionable, controversy rages

between those who believe that sunshine is healthy and those who

believe that sunshine is dangerous. The glowing tan has been

fashionable for quite some time now. In fact, the fashion is to

start tanning season with an even tan from tanning beds.

 

 

The Science Of Tanning Beds

Skin is made up of more than one layer. The effects of the sun are

seen on the top layer of skin. A suntan results from the production

of melanin by your skin and the sun's radiation working on that

melanin.

 

The danger of exposure to the sun is evident since melanin is only

produced in reaction to overexposure to the sun's rays. Once

produced, more exposure turns the skin's surface darker to protect

it from burning.

 

While sun burn should always be avoided, the presence of a tan is

evidence that damage has already occurred. It should be emphasized

that sun damage to skin is cumulative.

The damage you did last year (and every year before that) is still

counting against your odds to avoid skin cancer. Proponents of

tanning beds believe that a tan helps prevent further damage to the

skin. It's this difference of opinion that makes the question of the

potential danger of tanning beds so controversial.

 

While tanning beds use the same kinds of ultraviolet light as the

sun, the proportion of UVA and UVB are different. Most tanning beds

emit 95% Ultraviolet A and 5% Ultraviolet B. Some beds use UVA only.

 

Many experts agree that exposure to UVB should be avoided as much

as possible. It distorts and damages DNA strands, causes moles and

some types of skin cancer, causes skin aging and is more likely to

cause sunburn. It is the kind of radiation that creates and secretes

melanin, allowing tanning to take place.

 

UVA causes more skin aging than UVB, is not blocked by sunscreens,

and causes the most dangerous type of skin cancer – melanoma.

 

Why increase the danger of tanning beds by using so much UVA? It is

the kind of radiation that releases the melanin created by the UVB

and makes it combine with oxygen to create the tan.

Controversy exists over whether the vitamin D released by the UVB

helps protect against cancer.

 

The tan created by tanning beds is not deep enough to protect skin

from the sun's rays, by the way. Even a dark tanning bed tan leaves

the skin as vulnerable as if no tan existed.

 

While there are definite indications of the danger of tanning beds,

the truth is that they haven't been around long enough for the jury

to be in. In a decade or so, the cumulative effects will become

clear. In the meantime, everyone has to decide for himself about the

danger of tanning beds.

 

Articles- Doctor fired up over dangers of tanning beds

Emily Worts

A Tan to Die For

http://www.skincheck.org/Order.htm

The red Ergoline Turbo with a disco light on its top and the stand-

up Extreme Vertical with nylon straps to hold on to are just two of the 12 beds

at the Sun Magic Tanning Spa on Westmount Road East in

Kitchener. With 200-watt reflector lamps and 54 bulbs, the machines look more

like rides at Paramount Canada's Wonderland. the maximum time spent in the

Extreme Vertical is eight minutes, but the Turbo 600 classic with high-pressure

facial and shoulder lamps requires 12 minutes to give you a good base tan,

customer service representative Vanessa Smith said.

Most salons say getting a base tan is one of the health benefits of

tanning beds because it prepares the skin for additional exposure.

 

However, Region of Waterloo Public Health says any change of skin

colour is a sign of permanent skin damaage.

 

Bronzing the skin through artificial tanning may provide a sun

protection factor of three, a health department brochure says, but

the minimum protection people should have before they go out into the sun is 15.

 

Dermatologist Terry Polevoy, who runs the Acne Care Clinic in

Kitchener, began a crusade to educate the public and his patients about skin

cancer and artificial tanning 11 years ago.

Polevoy's crusade stems from personal experience, including the

death of his spouse to skin cancer in 1993.

" I'm concerned about bad information and self-regulation. There's no

penalty for letting underage children in (to tanning salons). "

 

Polevoy said there is no doubt artificial tanning is directly linked

to melanoma. Yet " we are creating a generation of young people that

crave artificial tanning. "

 

http://www.healthwatcher.net/acnedocs.com/ISCAN/Sunbed-

news/kwr020706.html

 

THE INDOOR TANNING CRAZE: More than 1 million Americans tan indoors

everyday, and there are nearly 20,000 tanning salons across the

United States. Tanning is a $2 billion industry!

 

DANGEROUS RAYS: Most tanning salon owners promote their beds by

emphasizing that they only emit ultraviolet A (UVA) light. UVA rays

are thought to be safer than ultraviolet B (UVB) rays, which cause

burning.

 

However, new research shows UVA light received in a tanning bed may

be up to 10-times more than the amount people normally receive from the sun.

 

Other research links tanning salon rays to the risk of

developing melanoma.

 

In a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer

Institute, women who visited tanning salons more than once a month

were about 55- percent more likely to develop melanoma.

 

People think that tanning beds are safe. That you cannot get sunburn

from a tanning bed. That they are a safe alternative to sunbathing.

 

But studies have shown those claims are not true. There is no such

thing as a safe tan. Skin damage at earlier ages is becoming more common with

the use of tanning beds and lamps. More pre-cancerous lesions are being found in

20 and 30 year olds.

 

In the United States, 1 in 3 cancersn consist of skin cancer. They

are caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight. The sun emits two kinds

of ultraviolet light, UVA and UVB. Both cause cataracts, and damage to the

retina of the eye.

 

UVA goes deeper into the skin.

 

Sun lamps and tanning beds mainly give off UVA radiation. The lights

act as a radiation multiplier. This increases the risk of skin

cancer.

 

UVA radiation is classified as a human cancer-causing agent.

 

The number of skin cancer cases has been rising over the years.

Experts say this is due to increasing exposure to tanning beds, and sun lamps.

More than 1.3 million new skin cancer cases are likely to be diagnosed in the

United States this year.

 

The number of cases of melanoma is rising also. Studies have shown

that people who used tanning beds before the age of 35, have a melanoma risk

eight-fold higher than people who have never used them.

 

Even occasional use almost tripled the chances. Using commercial lights also

more than doubled the risk. Melanoma, with a suspected link to UVA exposure, is

often fatal if not detected early.

 

A 2002 study of participants who used tanning beds, found increases

in other types of skin cancer also. Those who use the tanning beds

were:

 

2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma

1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma and

more likely to develop basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, the

younger they were when they began using these tanning devices

When exposed to tanning beds, the skin becomes red immediately. This

peaks at approximately 8hrs and continues for 24 to 48 hrs. Burning

with

blisters can occur with this type of tanning too, if not careful.

 

When exposed to the rays, the skin tries to protect itself. It

thickens

and produces a substance called melanin. This pigment darkens cells

and,

over time, causes:

 

premature aging of the skin

an increased risk for skin cancer

red, itchy, dry skin

sagging, wrinkled skin

burning of the skin and

damage to the immune system

 

The American Medical Association and the American Academy of

Dermatology

have warned people for many years about the dangers of tanning. They

want to ban the sale and use of tanning equipment for non-medical

purposes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention encourage people to avoid use of

tanning

beds and sun lamps.

 

Newsletter XIV - Dangers of Tanning Beds

 

http://www.coolibar.com/newsletterxivtanningbeds.html

January is, unfortunately, a busy month for the tanning bed

industry.

Cold, gloomy weather combined with a need to feel fashionable seems

to

drive many to use these devastating devices.

 

Ironically, the rapid expansion of the tanning bed industry over the

past ten years (it is now a $5 billion industry) has been fueled by

the

growing evidence that overexposure to the sun can be deadly. The UVB

rays of the sun were thought to be the most damaging, so the tanning

industry responded by creating bulbs designed to give off 90 to 95 %

UVA

and only 5 to 10 % UVB. The misperception is that because UVA does

not

burn, it does no harm.

 

In fact, UVA rays increase the risk of skin cancer, particularly

melanoma. In May 2000 the National Toxicology Program, an arm of the

Department of Health and Human Services, added sun lamps and tanning

beds to the list of known human carcinogens. Despite this official

statement about tanning beds and cancer, the number of people still

using them continues to rise.

 

While 70% of tanning bed users are adult women, every year more than

2

million teenagers in the United States visit tanning salons.

Consequently, skin cancers are showing up at much younger ages.

Three

states - Texas, Illinois and Wisconsin - currently have laws to keep

children from using tanning beds. And a Coolibar survey conducted in

February 2005 found that 76% of American dermatologists would be in

favor of a tax on tanning salons in order to fund sun protection

education programs in schools.

 

However, until more state legislators understand the need to provide

protection, it is up to you. Do not use tanning beds! Teach your

children, especially teens, about the dangers of tanning beds - that

tanning beds cause irreversible damage to skin and to the immune

system.

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/