Medical experts, industry leaders debate effects of tanning beds - TanToday - Helping Salon Owners, One At A Time, Since 2000!

Editor-in-Chief · 4th June 2007, 11:42 PM

Medical experts, industry leaders debate effects of tanning beds

Web Posted: 06/03/2007 08:15 PM CDT

Paula Hunt
Express-News

Last November, when the bump had swelled to the size of a pencil eraser, Shaw finally saw a dermatologist who conducted a biopsy on it and on another spot on her back. She was shocked at his diagnosis: basal cell carcinoma.

"I kept saying 'I'm 22 years old, how can I possibly have skin cancer?'" says Shaw. "I was overwhelmed. I couldn't believe at my age that it would happen to me."

Shaw, now 23 and cancer-free, is certain why she developed basal cell carcinoma, the most common kind of nonmelanoma skin cancer. From the time she was 14 to when she was 20, Shaw would "fake and bake" in a tanning bed four to five times a week.

She'd complement these visits with laying out in the sun and trips to the beach.

"I lived in the tanning beds," says Shaw. "It was fast and I liked the color and the results that I got. I used a very high intensity lotion that was, like, $85 a bottle and was supposed to increase your color. I would come out looking like a tomato I was so red."

Shaw may be part of a dangerous trend.

Dr. Anna Clayton, a clinical assistant professor in the division of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center and chief of Mohs Surgery at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, says that skin cancer used to be considered an older person's disease. But physicians like her are seeing increasing numbers of young patients.

"I am doing more and more skin cancer surgery on 30- and 40-year-olds and I sometimes do surgery on 20-somethings," Clayton says.

Dermatologists attribute increases in skin cancer rates to a number of factors such as ozone depletion, early detection and a growing body of evidence suggesting a connection between sunburns when young and developing melanoma later in life.

But they ascribe much of the increase to unprotected sun exposure and the popularity of artificial tanning.

When it comes to skin cancers, the culprit is ultraviolet radiation — and it doesn't matter whether it comes from a natural or artificial source.

"It's not a 'maybe' or a 'might' but a 'for sure' that the more ultraviolet light you get the more likely you are to get a skin cancer," says Dr. James M. Spencer, a professor of clinical dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "And indoor tanning beds are ultraviolet light."

The ultraviolet radiation in natural sunlight is about 95 percent ultraviolet A (UVA) and about 5 percent ultraviolet B (UVB). Indoor tanning beds mirror this breakdown.

It's UVA that causes the wrinkles, brown spots and sagging skin known as "photoaging," while tanning and burning are products of UVB. The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health all consider ultraviolet radiation a known carcinogen.

Tanning beds are particularly dangerous, critics say, because they deliver intense dosages of broad spectrum UV radiation over a short period of time.

Numerous epidemiological studies have linked exposure to tanning beds with melanoma of the skin and eye. Other studies have shown that exposure increases the risk for nonmalignant squamous-cell and basal-cell carcinomas as well.

Jumping on new research that investigates the possible benefits of ultraviolet radiation, the Indoor Tanning Association has vigorously countered the warnings of health organizations and medical groups on the dangers of UVA exposure and fought attempts to regulate tanning bed use.

The ITA uses two primary arguments in its promotion of "sensible and responsible exposure to sunlight": a moderate amount of ultraviolet radiation is healthy because it encourages the synthesis of vitamin D; and the medical community has misrepresented data in its demonization of UV radiation.

"In the last five or six years, a great deal of information has come out about the effect of vitamin D for preventing a host of cancers, for strong bones, its relationship to hypertension (and) it lowers your blood pressure," says John Overstreet, executive director of the ITA.

Spencer calls the industry's endorsement of tanning as a defense against vitamin D deficiency a smokescreen.

"Nobody goes to a tanning parlor to get vitamin D, they go there to get a tan," says Spencer. "You can get (vitamin D) in your diet or you can take a vitamin pill. You don't have to get melanoma to get vitamin D."

The industry also contends that tanning in a controlled environment helps prevent melanoma by building up melanin in the skin and thereby preventing burning.

However, Overstreet would not go as far as to say that a tan is good for you.

"I would say that there are many benefits of being exposed to ultraviolet light that getting a tan provides," Overstreet says.

"Over the past 25 years, people have heard this ongoing message about staying out of the sun when the health problems that are created by avoiding the sun dwarf the problems of overexposure."

Nobody has ever said you have to live in a cave, counters Spencer, adding that the average person can get all the sunlight he needs by walking back and forth to his car over the course of week — about 10 minutes total — while also pointing out it's free, unlike a visit to a tanning salon.

Those who promote the health benefits of unprotected ultraviolet radiation are in the minority, however.

They are outnumbered by the mainstream medical community that identifies numerous studies on its harmful effects and research indicating that indoor tanning may be habit-forming.

Dermatologists would particularly like to get the message about the risks of indoor tanning out to women between the ages of 18 and 35, who make up about 70 percent of salon customers.

Indoor tanning is particularly popular among teen girls, with one study finding that 47 percent of 18- and 19-year-olds had used a tanning booth.

To help protect young people from the risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, some states, such as Texas, require parental consent for minors to use tanning beds.
Clayton is all for it.

"I would never let my daughter go in a tanning bed and I would never sign that release," says Clayton who has two teenage daughters.

While our culture may admire the look of a "healthy tan," dermatologists say there is no such thing. And even people whose naturally dark complexions afforded them some protection can still develop skin cancer.

Looking back on the time and money she spent on tanning, Shaw says she was convinced that warnings simply didn't apply to her.

She isn't shy about proffering photographs of her surgery that show a bloody quarter-size hole on the top of her head where her dermatologist excised her cancer. She hopes that it will influence her friends — some of whom still go to tanning salons — to start getting smart about their sun exposure.

Shaw now carries sunscreen with her everywhere and wears a hat, even if she's just going to the grocery store. And, she says, she will never, ever step inside another tanning booth.

"Knowing what I know now, I'm not going to take that risk again. I encourage every young person to think about what they're doing," she says. "I'm here to show you that it can happen to anybody."

phunt@express-news.net

----------------

About 25 million Americans visit tanning salons in the United States every year, and Lindsey Shaw used to be one of them.

Then about five years ago, Shaw noticed a tiny bump on the top of her head. She didn't think much about it until she noticed it bled when she brushed her hair. Then, it started to grow.

Tanning and skin cancer facts

• While less than 6 percent of all skin cancers are melanomas, they represent almost 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths.

• According to a 2004 Texas Cancer Registry report, an estimated 1,700 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the state each year and an average of 450 Texans will die from the disease.

• According to the National Cancer Institute, melanoma is the most common cancer in women age 25-29.

• More than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year and an estimated 10,850 people will die from it.

• Although people with darker skin, such as Hispanics and African Americans, are at a lower risk for developing skin cancer, if they get it they are more likely to die.

• According to the National Cancer Institute, women who use tanning beds more than once a month are 55 percent more likely to develop melanoma.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology, American Cancer Society, American Medical Association, and National Cancer Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, World Health Organization

Tanning law

• Texas is one of a number of states (including California, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin) that have age restrictions limiting access to tanning salons. In Texas, those 12 and younger must have the written consent of a pediatrician and a parent/guardian must be present to sign the consent; those ages 13-15 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to provide written consent; those ages 16-17 need the written consent of a parent/guardian; and there are no restrictions for those 18 and older.

• After a spate of skin and eye injuries among individuals, the FDA began regulating the manufacture of artificial tanning devices in 1979. Guidelines for UV emittance and exposure were subsequently developed, but the actual oversight is the purview of individual states and varies greatly, according to the FDA.
Source: FDA

Tan not so hot
• A recent survey by the Skin Cancer Foundation and iVillage found that 53 percent of men and women didn't think they looked better with a tan, 69 percent didn't think a tan made them look thinner and 63 percent said they didn't think someone with a tan was more attractive.

• Ultraviolet radiation has been labeled a known carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association. In 2005, the WHO issued a statement on the dangers of indoor tanning recommending that no one younger than 18 use a tanning bed.

On the Web
• American Academy of Dermatology
• American Cancer Society
• Indoor Tanning Association
• The Skin Cancer Foundation

Source

Standby · 6th June 2007, 01:47 AM

E-in-C, I want to spin these facts just a bit!

I remember reading once an estimated one hundred and fifty million people tan outdoors, so for fun lets double that number and add the people who get sun burned from yard work going for walks, and outdoor barbaque's etc.

So if 25 million people tan indoors ( that's roughly 10% of the tanners)we are only responsible for one hundred thousand of the one million new new cases of skin cancer this year, and only one thousand of the deaths.

This clearly shows the advantage of indoor tanning vs. outdoor.

Thanks J. H.

4th June 2007, 11:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Editor-in-Chief Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Virtual Reality Posts: 2,429	Medical experts, industry leaders debate effects of tanning beds Medical experts, industry leaders debate effects of tanning beds Web Posted: 06/03/2007 08:15 PM CDT Paula Hunt Express-News Last November, when the bump had swelled to the size of a pencil eraser, Shaw finally saw a dermatologist who conducted a biopsy on it and on another spot on her back. She was shocked at his diagnosis: basal cell carcinoma. "I kept saying 'I'm 22 years old, how can I possibly have skin cancer?'" says Shaw. "I was overwhelmed. I couldn't believe at my age that it would happen to me." Shaw, now 23 and cancer-free, is certain why she developed basal cell carcinoma, the most common kind of nonmelanoma skin cancer. From the time she was 14 to when she was 20, Shaw would "fake and bake" in a tanning bed four to five times a week. She'd complement these visits with laying out in the sun and trips to the beach. "I lived in the tanning beds," says Shaw. "It was fast and I liked the color and the results that I got. I used a very high intensity lotion that was, like, $85 a bottle and was supposed to increase your color. I would come out looking like a tomato I was so red." Shaw may be part of a dangerous trend. Dr. Anna Clayton, a clinical assistant professor in the division of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center and chief of Mohs Surgery at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, says that skin cancer used to be considered an older person's disease. But physicians like her are seeing increasing numbers of young patients. "I am doing more and more skin cancer surgery on 30- and 40-year-olds and I sometimes do surgery on 20-somethings," Clayton says. Dermatologists attribute increases in skin cancer rates to a number of factors such as ozone depletion, early detection and a growing body of evidence suggesting a connection between sunburns when young and developing melanoma later in life. But they ascribe much of the increase to unprotected sun exposure and the popularity of artificial tanning. When it comes to skin cancers, the culprit is ultraviolet radiation — and it doesn't matter whether it comes from a natural or artificial source. "It's not a 'maybe' or a 'might' but a 'for sure' that the more ultraviolet light you get the more likely you are to get a skin cancer," says Dr. James M. Spencer, a professor of clinical dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "And indoor tanning beds are ultraviolet light." The ultraviolet radiation in natural sunlight is about 95 percent ultraviolet A (UVA) and about 5 percent ultraviolet B (UVB). Indoor tanning beds mirror this breakdown. It's UVA that causes the wrinkles, brown spots and sagging skin known as "photoaging," while tanning and burning are products of UVB. The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health all consider ultraviolet radiation a known carcinogen. Tanning beds are particularly dangerous, critics say, because they deliver intense dosages of broad spectrum UV radiation over a short period of time. Numerous epidemiological studies have linked exposure to tanning beds with melanoma of the skin and eye. Other studies have shown that exposure increases the risk for nonmalignant squamous-cell and basal-cell carcinomas as well. Jumping on new research that investigates the possible benefits of ultraviolet radiation, the Indoor Tanning Association has vigorously countered the warnings of health organizations and medical groups on the dangers of UVA exposure and fought attempts to regulate tanning bed use. The ITA uses two primary arguments in its promotion of "sensible and responsible exposure to sunlight": a moderate amount of ultraviolet radiation is healthy because it encourages the synthesis of vitamin D; and the medical community has misrepresented data in its demonization of UV radiation. "In the last five or six years, a great deal of information has come out about the effect of vitamin D for preventing a host of cancers, for strong bones, its relationship to hypertension (and) it lowers your blood pressure," says John Overstreet, executive director of the ITA. Spencer calls the industry's endorsement of tanning as a defense against vitamin D deficiency a smokescreen. "Nobody goes to a tanning parlor to get vitamin D, they go there to get a tan," says Spencer. "You can get (vitamin D) in your diet or you can take a vitamin pill. You don't have to get melanoma to get vitamin D." The industry also contends that tanning in a controlled environment helps prevent melanoma by building up melanin in the skin and thereby preventing burning. However, Overstreet would not go as far as to say that a tan is good for you. "I would say that there are many benefits of being exposed to ultraviolet light that getting a tan provides," Overstreet says. "Over the past 25 years, people have heard this ongoing message about staying out of the sun when the health problems that are created by avoiding the sun dwarf the problems of overexposure." Nobody has ever said you have to live in a cave, counters Spencer, adding that the average person can get all the sunlight he needs by walking back and forth to his car over the course of week — about 10 minutes total — while also pointing out it's free, unlike a visit to a tanning salon. Those who promote the health benefits of unprotected ultraviolet radiation are in the minority, however. They are outnumbered by the mainstream medical community that identifies numerous studies on its harmful effects and research indicating that indoor tanning may be habit-forming. Dermatologists would particularly like to get the message about the risks of indoor tanning out to women between the ages of 18 and 35, who make up about 70 percent of salon customers. Indoor tanning is particularly popular among teen girls, with one study finding that 47 percent of 18- and 19-year-olds had used a tanning booth. To help protect young people from the risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, some states, such as Texas, require parental consent for minors to use tanning beds. Clayton is all for it. "I would never let my daughter go in a tanning bed and I would never sign that release," says Clayton who has two teenage daughters. While our culture may admire the look of a "healthy tan," dermatologists say there is no such thing. And even people whose naturally dark complexions afforded them some protection can still develop skin cancer. Looking back on the time and money she spent on tanning, Shaw says she was convinced that warnings simply didn't apply to her. She isn't shy about proffering photographs of her surgery that show a bloody quarter-size hole on the top of her head where her dermatologist excised her cancer. She hopes that it will influence her friends — some of whom still go to tanning salons — to start getting smart about their sun exposure. Shaw now carries sunscreen with her everywhere and wears a hat, even if she's just going to the grocery store. And, she says, she will never, ever step inside another tanning booth. "Knowing what I know now, I'm not going to take that risk again. I encourage every young person to think about what they're doing," she says. "I'm here to show you that it can happen to anybody." phunt@express-news.net ---------------- About 25 million Americans visit tanning salons in the United States every year, and Lindsey Shaw used to be one of them. Then about five years ago, Shaw noticed a tiny bump on the top of her head. She didn't think much about it until she noticed it bled when she brushed her hair. Then, it started to grow. Tanning and skin cancer facts • While less than 6 percent of all skin cancers are melanomas, they represent almost 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths. • According to a 2004 Texas Cancer Registry report, an estimated 1,700 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the state each year and an average of 450 Texans will die from the disease. • According to the National Cancer Institute, melanoma is the most common cancer in women age 25-29. • More than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year and an estimated 10,850 people will die from it. • Although people with darker skin, such as Hispanics and African Americans, are at a lower risk for developing skin cancer, if they get it they are more likely to die. • According to the National Cancer Institute, women who use tanning beds more than once a month are 55 percent more likely to develop melanoma. Sources: American Academy of Dermatology, American Cancer Society, American Medical Association, and National Cancer Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, World Health Organization Tanning law • Texas is one of a number of states (including California, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin) that have age restrictions limiting access to tanning salons. In Texas, those 12 and younger must have the written consent of a pediatrician and a parent/guardian must be present to sign the consent; those ages 13-15 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to provide written consent; those ages 16-17 need the written consent of a parent/guardian; and there are no restrictions for those 18 and older. • After a spate of skin and eye injuries among individuals, the FDA began regulating the manufacture of artificial tanning devices in 1979. Guidelines for UV emittance and exposure were subsequently developed, but the actual oversight is the purview of individual states and varies greatly, according to the FDA. Source: FDA Tan not so hot • A recent survey by the Skin Cancer Foundation and iVillage found that 53 percent of men and women didn't think they looked better with a tan, 69 percent didn't think a tan made them look thinner and 63 percent said they didn't think someone with a tan was more attractive. • Ultraviolet radiation has been labeled a known carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association. In 2005, the WHO issued a statement on the dangers of indoor tanning recommending that no one younger than 18 use a tanning bed. On the Web • American Academy of Dermatology • American Cancer Society • Indoor Tanning Association • The Skin Cancer Foundation Source __________________ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

6th June 2007, 01:47 AM	#2 (permalink)
Standby Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: none of your business Posts: 6	Re: Medical experts, industry leaders debate effects of tanning beds E-in-C, I want to spin these facts just a bit! I remember reading once an estimated one hundred and fifty million people tan outdoors, so for fun lets double that number and add the people who get sun burned from yard work going for walks, and outdoor barbaque's etc. So if 25 million people tan indoors ( that's roughly 10% of the tanners)we are only responsible for one hundred thousand of the one million new new cases of skin cancer this year, and only one thousand of the deaths. This clearly shows the advantage of indoor tanning vs. outdoor. Thanks J. H.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode