Dermatologists fume at tanning industry claims.

[Editor-in-Chief]

Dermatologists fume at tanning industry claims
Professors outraged companies are using raw data to say tanning beds 'healthy'
Pamela FayermanVancouver Sun

Monday, May 14, 2007


B.C. - Dermatologists are outraged the Canadian tanning bed industry is using unpublished data from a study on vitamin D supplements and cancer risk reduction to convince customers they'll actually derive health benefits from the ultraviolet exposure in tanning beds instead of the oft-touted health risks.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is publishing an online study next month which is expected to show that a four-year trial of 1,179 women who took a vitamin D supplement daily had a reduction in cancer incidence. The primary way that humans get vitamin D is through sun exposure, although it is also present in fatty fish and egg yolks and it is in multivitamins and fortified foods like milk and margarine.

A short summary of the Nebraska trial data -- what scientists call an abstract -- was presented at a meeting in Virginia of bone and nutrition experts and the conclusion was that vitamin D and calcium supplements substantially reduced risk from all cancers in the post-menopausal women who took them, compared to women who took a placebo over four years.

In a news release sent to The Vancouver Sun, Steve Gilroy, executive-director of the Joint Canadian Tanning Association, made up of owners of tanning parlours, said the study has his industry "abuzz because it verifies the health benefits of exposure to UVB light. We realize that our industry can play a significant role as part of a healthy solution to the vitamin D deficiency experienced by many Canadians," he added.

Dr. Jason Rivers, a dermatologist and clinical professor at the University of B.C., said no one should think that the benefits of a vitamin D supplement are equal to, or the same as, ultraviolet exposure in tanning beds.

"You can't make those kinds of extrapolations. If a study found that there was some sort of benefit to smoking, would you then recommend smoking with everything we know about the hazards of tobacco? Of course not.

"The study used supplements, not ultraviolet radiation in tanning beds, and for the industry to make this kind of conjecture is wrong, it's nonsensical and it's crap," said Rivers, adding that gullible people might believe they should get their vitamin D from tanning beds, not realizing the ultraviolet radiation is five times stronger than natural sunlight or that it causes damage to cells and DNA.

Rivers said a safe level of unprotected sun exposure for individuals, without sunscreen, is 15 to 20 minutes a day, three times a week, in the summer. Fifteen minutes in the sun is said to be equivalent to 10,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D. Health Canada recommends adults over age 50 take a daily supplement containing 400 IU. The tolerable upper intake for supplements is 2,000 IU, taking into account amounts absorbed through food and other sources, according to Health Canada. Exposure to excess vitamin D can cause calcification in the kidneys, heart, lungs and blood vessels.

Not surprisingly, Rivers swears by sunscreen and said he takes a daily vitamin D supplement containing up to 1,000 IU.

Vancouver dermatologist Dr. Alastair Carruthers said he is equally offended by the claims made by the tanning industry.

"The data is not yet released which allows the proponents of tanning bed use plenty of opportunity to put out their side of the argument but does not permit any scientific controversy since there is no data with which to argue. This is not an accident. However it is worth pointing out that the study is on females and therefore does not apply to at least half of the population," Carruthers said.

"The important issue here is the evidence that vitamin D may reduce the incidence of internal malignancy [as opposed to cancer on the skin] but the tanning industry concludes that we should all go to tanning beds to increase our vitamin D levels without any evidence for this leap. It is both cheaper and easier to take oral vitamin D supplements to correct a deficiency rather than the more expensive and risky visit to a tanning bed," Carruthers said, noting that besides causing skin cancer, ultraviolet radiation causes wrinkles and damage to the body's immune system.
"Frankly this is tanning industry propaganda and of no scientific credibility," he added.

Reinhold Vieth, a University of Toronto professor in the department of nutritional sciences, said in an interview that how people get their vitamin D is "really up to them." Vieth, who strongly believes that Canadians are largely deficient in vitamin D because of their northern geography, also acknowledges that he has been paid by a tanning parlour company called Fabutan as an expert. Indeed, in the recent news release from the indoor tanning association, which carries a headline that reads: "Canadian tanning industry can play a key role to fill sunshine vitamin void", Vieth is quoted as saying that both sunbeds and summer sunshine are effective ways to increase vitamin D.

"The advantage of a tanning bed is that exposure to UV light can be controlled more precisely than casual sun exposure and thus can be safer than advising the public to guess at their own sun exposure from sunlight," he is quoted as saying in the release.

Sun Health Issues Reporter
pfayerman@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

I didn't see the docs crying about misusing data when "tanning addiction" was invented based on a small number of interviews with people on a beach.

Skins docs performed a study outside their area of medical study, training and experience (namely psychology, addictions and sociology) and that's all okay.

Dermaterrorists are losing their vice-grip on the anti-tanning salon message and they are not happy about it.

This is a tipping point on public opinion and we have momentum.

[Ezliving_Jim]

Three cheers for Steve Gilroy!

Fork 'em!

[Island Cove]

it erks me to see them say

Vieth, who strongly believes that Canadians are largely deficient in vitamin D because of their northern geography, also acknowledges that he has been paid by a tanning parlour company called Fabutan as an expert.

yet they don't touch on who pays the derms to spout crap.

[Din]

sometimes it sucks to be Canadian.......

And the fact that us Canadians are so diseased with lack of Vitamin D, you would think the tanning market would be booming for us Polar people.

[dcjjp2]

Same for us in the North East and the Mid Atlantic.

[blondjuls]

Have you ever taken a close look at that list of known or "reasonably anticipated" carcinogens?

There are some really common things on the lists, ingredients found in most toothpastes bar soaps, common medicines also mineral oils, wood dust, etc.

I find it astounding how many people will read published propaganda and change their lifestyle accordingly. I still remember the hot dog and artificial sweetener scares...then months later you start hearing that the equivalency of hot dogs you would have to consume would cause your body to explode long before you ever had to concern yourself with a cancerous death.

I wish they would come out with some conclusive evidence before running out and making "academic" claims with little to no actual proof.

I also find it alarming that they cant identify, which if any, UVR has a POSSIBLE link to the development of skin cancer. However, still list all 3 on the carcinogen list. What if the only cancerous rays are UVC?? What if its the hole in the ozone layer letting extremely harmful UVC rays, and a high concentration of UVB reach the earth's surface that is really the issue? Not the controlled environment of a tanning salon...SHOCKING

[glowgirl35]

Freakin Canadians!!!!!!!!!!!!!