Online Lifestyle Magazine for Healthcare Workers by Pulse Uniform

Tanning Beds Increase Risk for Melanoma

Health experts recently bombarded tanning industry because of its ill effects, particularly to the skin of those who frequently go indoor tanning to get their most coveted skin color. The issue exploded when a study about cancer and tanning beds, saying regular use of tanning beds triples or even quadruples the risk of developing melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer), was released.

The study found that indoor tanners get 74% increased risk for melanoma than those who never did. How much indoor tanning makes for that increase? People who were exposed to indoor tanning 50 times triple risk for melanoma as opposed to those who didn’t, after adjusting for known risk factors of the deadly skin cancer. How about those who regularly use high-pressure tanning beds which emit mostly UVA radiation? They get four times higher risk for melanoma.

Young women, ages 30 and below, are more vulnerable to melanoma caused by indoor tanning since they are more likely to use tanning beds for the sake of the so called beauty. Increased risk may vary according to the individual’s skin color, number of moles, freckles as well as hair color. More fair skinned people and those with more moles are 5 times more likely to develop melanoma.

Concerning this, health authorities are most likely to set regulations on commercial tanning salons. But things can’t be handled all by the authorities. The tanning bed users must also be responsible. Learning of the benefits and ill effects of indoor tanning must be fully understood. Teens, in particular, need to have all the guidance they can get from parents. But most importantly, they need to determine whether or not getting tan is really worth their health, or even their lives. They don’t have to look for professionals in lab coats for this.



About Mecheil Lewis