The Dangers of Tanning Beds: Five Fast Facts

By Dr. Hema Sundaram, Health Guide Monday, June 02, 2008

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1. It's Big Business Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. tan in tanning salons every year; on average, that's more than 1 million people a day who are baking themselves under tanning lamps[1]. More than 70% of them are Caucasian females aged 16 to 49 years[2]. The indoor tanning industry's revenues...

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sue

6/ 3/08 10:21pm

This really is serious business. Why is it that we are continually drawn to things that are not healthy and downright dangerous to our bodies? Moreover, why is there always someone out there to tell us somethimg is safe and even necessary, when it really is not?

It just is so frustrating, but I guess it just shows how important it is to be informed about our health and make good choices for ourselves - even if we look white as a ghost!

Thanks for this info and look forward to more great posts from you Doctor!

For more info on a tanning you can visit our SkinCancerConnection.com with more facts on sunburn and sunscreen tips.

Hope this helps and all the best, sue

joan

3/ 3/10 1:13pm

your wrong. Tanning is not bad for you fi it is done right and in moderation. Please know what your talking about before posting things

"Joan" is ignorant

3/ 7/10 7:30pm

RE: Joan: Clearly, "your" a highly educated individual, classically trained in the core sciences and as such, an expert on the subject. For obvious reasons, we will all listen to what you say and take it to heart as gospel truth over these empirically proven and published scientific studies.

Austin

9/19/08 10:03am

The thing that bothers me the most about tanning beds and cancer studies is that there has never been a proven case of skin cancer blamed on a tanning bed. I am not saying that tanning are safe or unsafe. I think that they should bed use in moderation and not abused like many other things.

www.tanningbed-free.info

Sunless Tanning

2/15/10 5:06am

Let's get alarmed for the dangers brought by tanning beds. There are easier ways of tanning which will not put you in danger. Sunless tanning products are available to get you tan in a safe way. www.gm2labs.com

joan

3/ 3/10 1:12pm

Now how about posting the benefits to tanning. the good effects it has on winter blues, the help people get who have schoriasis. The feeling that people get when they are tan and how good they feel. The benefit of Vitamin D. Now not all people bake in a taning bed. people bake in the sun. A tanning bed is a controlled environment which makes it safer. people like you need to take steps back and realize that taning is not all bad.

4/ 7/10 8:16pm

The point is, tanning anywhere isn't safe. Whether you bake in a salon or under the natural radiation of the sun, you're causing irreversible damage to your body. This does not surprise me in today's world. People are so shallow that they will sacrafice their health--and sometimes their life--for the immediate concept that they can "look good" now. Later on, when those same people start complaining how their skins seems to have aged, I hope sympathetic ears will be turned. After all, ignorance seems to be bliss...

tanningisamazing

5/13/10 8:23pm

ok first off. A tanning bed does no more harm to your body than sitting outside, unless you abuse it. Tanning is just a condensed version of the sun. Studies show that our bodies acctually need more sun. Also melinoma can be given to anyone from the sun too its not just from tanning. So please do not talk about something if you are not going to tell all of the truth.

Thank you

tanningisamazing

5/13/10 8:28pm

oh and by the way. Its none of your business what makes others feel beautiful. Its their own choice not yours. And you shouldnt make it. You shouldnt talk about others like that.

Merely Me, Health Guide

5/13/10 8:54pm

Very interesting comment.

You say that sitting in a tanning bed is no worse than sitting outside. Really? You have some studies to show that is true? We would be glad to see them.

In the meantime...

The reality is...and this comes from The Amercian Cancer Society:

"...tanning bed use raises the risk of melanoma of the skin by 75% when use starts before the age of 30."

So yeah...I don't know...should I trust...The American Cancer Society or...someone who loves "amazingtans"?

Again...I think our readers are smart enough to know.

cherly

5/14/10 12:59am

I totally agree that tanning beds are just around to take money from young people who don't know the facts. It is scientifically proven to be harmful to your skin. Check the facts for yourself; it is not difficult to get informed about the consequences of tanning your whole life and how it can harm your skin. The facts aren't meant to make fun of you, just to get you to check for yourself and determine whether you want to subject your body to a cancer that can be prevented, just llike smoking cigarettes can cause lung cancer.

It's all a matter of personal choice...

tanningisamazing

6/ 8/10 6:31pm

well i think you are ignorant. I work in a tanning salon and i have known many many many many people who have tanned for many years and have not been effected in any negitive way. I have tanned for many years and also have had nothing negitive myself. So from a tanner and a person very involved inthe tanning business i would know that unless you abuse indoor tanning you still have a low risk.

Merely Me, Health Guide

6/ 8/10 6:53pm

And your proof that tanning beds are low risk for users to develop skin cancer is what? Can you cite any studies on this?

There truly is no reason to use tanning beds nowadays. There are more safe options. And it is a huge risk for not only premature aging of your skin but also to develop life threatening melanomas. As the wise commenter wrote...it is a choice. But we want our members to understand the risks before they make that choice.

Carrie

10/10/10 1:06pm

"...tanning bed use raises the risk of melanoma of the skin by 75% when use starts before the age of 30."

That increased 75% risk means that people with type 1 skin (which, there was a grossly unbalanced pool of this kind of skin type used in the "study" by the ACS) go from having less than a .2% chance of contracting melanoma to less than .5% of contracting melanoma. It sheds quite a bit of light on the situation when you find out what the initial risk actually is. Also, the benefits of UV exposure outweigh any adverse effects by a ratio of 15 to 1. Don't take my word for it. William B. Grant, Ph.D. came to that conclusion.

Also, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute you'll find that it indicated patients in the early stages of melanoma are significantly more likely to survive if they've had a history of regular sun exposure.

Having adequate levels of vitamin D in your blood cuts the risk in HALF of breast cancer and colon cancer in women (not to mention diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, psoriasis, and tuberculosis). There is little to NO evidence that sun exposure without sunburn increases your risk of melanoma. We were made to get vitamin D through the sun, not by swallowing it. And the recommended daily intake of vitamin D professed by the "experts" is years behind its research. If you only listen to what the profit driven dermatologists, pharmaceutical, sunscreen, and cosmetic industries are telling you, you'll get a very warped perspective.

Think about it- The sun is free. No one can tax it, charge you to bask in its rays, or limit your exposure to it. Letting people know the truth that moderate exposure to UV rays is completely paramount to maintain adequate health would destroy many people's pocketbooks.

Ellen

11/10/10 10:23pm

Ummm.... im honestly concerned...the fact that you all are getting such a tissy about a stupid activity such as tanning is shocking. i am by no means saying that Orange-but-atleast-their-happy people are correct and im certainly not siding with the Pale-but-aleast-their-healthy people. Everything is good in moderation. you both are at either end of the spectrum and id hate to see you guys in a all out claw fight. there is a happy medium in there, find it! there is scientific evidence that tanning no more then four or five times a year helps body acne and kills bactieria under the skin. it can be good for you if you live in a place that has no sun! I would conclude with some scary facts about the effects of tanning but what i have to say has already been brought to the table.

Concerned Mom

12/18/10 8:59pm

My daughter is 28 years old. she has used tanning beds for about 10 years...none in the last year and a half. we have zero incidence of cancer in our family (except prostate) on either side and it goes back generations with no other cancer. we were told for years that tanning beds were safer than the sun..why did we listen to that? I don't know but my baby girl has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. from the research I have done, this is the #1 cancer in young women 19-29 with breast cancer second among 30-34 year old women. (experts please correct me if I have my info incorrect) the incidence is increasing in younger women. melanoma has more than tripled in the last 10 years. This is NO JOKE! Taking a chance with your life is not worth it. Our family is devastated and from everything I have read, tanning beds are a big part of this increase in melanoma. Don't be stupid like we were. we will deal with this forever now as once you have it you must be very careful. We are waiting on final pathology report to come this week after her second surgery in one weeks time. PLEASE be safe everyone. I sure wish we could have a DO-OVER! Good luck...get a complete body mole check every year and to those working in tanning salons, get that check up immediately. You are ignorant if you think it cannot happen to you!

Concerned Mom

Merely Me, Health Guide

12/20/10 4:30pm

Hi Concerned Mom

I saw your comment and I had to respond. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about your daughter. Your comment is probably worth more than ten posts where I would cite fact after fact about the dangers of tanning. There are so many young women who are now being diagnosed with melanoma and this just shouldn't be. Perhaps your story will help others to think twice before they go to a tanning salon or tan in the sun.

My heart goes out to you and your daughter. I would like it very much if you could keep in touch with us and let us know how things are going.

I think your comment will receive more notice if I include it in a post...I would like to do that so that more people can hear your story. It is a very timely message and it needs to be heard.

Thank you again for writing and I wish the best for you and your daughter.

Merely Me, Health Guide

12/20/10 5:09pm

I hadn't seen this comment by "Carrie" until recently. Of course I do wish to respond. First of all, I think you should read the recent comment by "concerned mom" as this goes beyond statistics and gets the heart of why there are such warnings about tanning...young people are now getting melanoma. Young women in their twenties and thirties are getting melanoma after using tanning beds. This doesn't have to be.

The efforts to promote tanning as having some sort of health benefit is a strategy of the tanning salon industry to keep selling their wares. This is not some altruistic message from someone who cares about your health. This is about business and making money.

I checked out this PhD you cite and he has a website with some very interesting "benefactors" Surprise suprise...who could some of them be? Could it be...the tanning industry? It is also no surprise that this name comes up on most tanning sites as a way to legitimize tanning.

This reminds me of when the tobacco industry had doctors speak on commercials about how safe smoking was. We now know better. People do not have to die of skin cancer. It is preventable. How many more stories do we have to hear of young women being diagnosed with a deadly melanoma?

The bottom line is that there are proven health risks to tanning. It is a choice but people should be aware of the risks.

I will be writing a comprehensive post about all the points raised in this on-going discussion. Stay tuned...

kay

2/ 9/11 5:21pm

wow. i wish all you people who think that tanning, whether natural or tanning beds, is safe could see my body. i tanned most of my life. i thought i looked better with a tan. and the darker the better. in the sun almost daily from noon till 5 and tanned in the winter to look healthy. yeah. i'm "healthy" all right. i've had both invasive malignant melanoma and squamous cell skin cancer. no skin cancer on either side of my family. i now see a dermatologist and oncologist every 3 months so I don't go more than 1 1/2 months w/o seeing a doctor. my legs are cut up and i had a section the size of a tennis ball removed from my upper arm. the size of the lesion? 3/4 the size of my pinky nail. my underarm has no feeling because my lymph nodes were removed and my arm swells when tired, sick,or have lifted too much because the lymph drainage has been compromised. yep. beautiful. if melanoma is not treated in its early stages, there is no reliable treatment for it. is it worthy it? not any more.

MichelleMyBelle79

3/31/11 4:59pm

I'm late to post, but better late than never.

My name is Michelle and I am 32 years old. I was diagnosed with Superficial Spreading Melanoma two weeks ago, stage II.

I went to a tanning bed for about 10 years from the months between March and May to get a "base tan" so I wouldn't look like a freak during the summer. So, basically I paid $25.00 a month to GIVE myself skin cancer.

I've spent the past two weeks waiting and wondering. Luckily, at this point the is no evidence of spreading to my lymph nodes or lungs. I had about a 3 inch long, 1 inch wide, 1/2 deep SLICE of my back cut out on Tuesday. HOPEFULLY that got all of it. I STILL get to have an eye exam (ocular melanoma check) and a mammogram (you are twice as likely to develop breast cancer after being diagnosed with melanoma) Unfortunatley, the lady who was in the dr's office on Monday wasn't as lucky as I. She was given 6-12 months to live...

Whoever the AWFUL person was that works at the tanning bed and threw insults around can feel free to contact me to see the pictures I took so that I can personally spread the word about tanning salons. You have NO RIGHT to talk trash about things that you do not know about.

MichelleMyBelle79

3/31/11 5:01pm

yes, I feel SO beautiful with this 3 inch scar on my back. It's so not worth looking good for that week back in 2003...

MichelleMyBelle79

3/31/11 5:03pm

so, your definition of "abuse" is 2 times a week for 3 months out of the year for 10 years? Cause' that's all it too for me to get malanoma. Just wondering.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

5/25/10 6:23pm

ahahahhahaha! wow joan is one of the most stupid individuals if she really believes that... ok what's worse? the "winter blues" or cancer? i mean come on now reallyyy??? and wow getting all defensive and worked up over this, that just proves she's wrong. The majority of people who use tanning beds are insecure and tan so they can fit in and look good... who cares?! my suggestion is just to get your priorities in line or you'll regret it, oh and you'll pry look gross by the time your 50 and look like your 15 years older than all your friends. nice.

Erika

7/24/10 1:08pm

You should consider doing some spray tanning if you really want to be tanned.

There are Vegan solutions out there for really safe options, check out http://www.sjolietanning.com for a list of salons that offer vegan spray tanning.

randomguy

11/ 2/10 12:44am

i subscribe to the view that its not the amount of years in your life, nut the amount of life in your years that counts. soo... tan people = happier people = more productive people = more social people = better life. but on the other hand, skin cancer is an awful way to die. was also surprised to learn that 10 visits a year is counted as a lot. i probably tan 2x every three weeks, so 30-40 times a year. but then again there's virtually no sun where i live.

PS good point about lack of vitamin D. hundreds of mutations take place in your body every second, most happen in an unimportant stretch of a cell's DNA or/and are repaired by your cell's defense mechanism. some of the def. mech. require vitamin D to function. living above the arctic circle with no sun for months, i just wonder how low your exposure to natural sun has to be in order for the tanning salons to actually be good for you in a biochemical way.

somebody's mother

2/15/11 10:46pm

I haven't seen any reference yet to the chemical effects of this tanning on the brain. It has been posited that there is an addictive effect from this tanning, whether in natural sunlight or tanning beds. Endorphins? anyway, it is a crummy decision to make for a young and beautiful person to bake their skin to leather and end up with a greater risk for a terrible cancer, just for the sunlight high.

zetchi

3/15/11 2:51am

nice post....i'm sure this will help....thank for sharing....

Litchford

2/19/12 8:38pm

Since the early 80s I was either in the tanning bed 20 minutes each day or in the Sun. The dark skin was attractive & I felt better about myself. I would still be using the tanning beds but I suffered a brain tumor & was advised NOT to be in the Sun more than necessary & to not be in the tanning beds at all. I have a lot of moles/freckles & ugly skin discoloration now. Looking back, I wish that I had never done any of the avid tanning that I did.

The Dangers of Tanning Beds: Five Fast Facts

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