DANGERS OF CONVENTIONAL TANNING

TANNING FACTS: Risks of Tanning

What is Tanning?
In its most unglamorous form, tanning is simply the body's response to skin cell damage caused by ultraviolet light. Through a cause-and-effect chain, exposure to UVA and UVB radiation stimulates the production of melanin (the skin's pigment), in a desperate attempt to protect the skin from further damage.

Skin Damage and Skin Cancer
Unfortunately as each layer of skin is shed (every 2 to 3 days on average), newer cells revert to their usual level of melanin, which once again leaves the skin vulnerable to ultraviolet light. The cycle repeats itself, resulting in damaged skin that has lost its elasticity (i.e. tough, leathery, and prematurely wrinkled), 'liver spots', and a range of skin cancer conditions from basal cell to carcinoma, to melanoma.
The reality of the growing incidence of skin cancer is alarming.
For example, 2 in 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70 [1]. 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime [2]. In February 2009, using incidence and mortality data for 2001-2005, it's been estimated that that the lifetime risk of developing malignant melanoma is 1 in 91 for men and 1 in 77 for women in the UK [3].

Tanning Beds and UV Exposure
There are two types of ultraviolet rays that burn the skin - UVA and UVB. Of the two, UVB is the more harmful.
Tanning beds claim to screen ultraviolet light, and have been in common use since the 1990's [4]. For a while, though expensive and time-consuming, they seemed to offer an attractive alternative to sun tanning, and a safe method of avoiding harmful UV exposure.
However recent studies indicating that ultraviolet (UV) radiation from indoor tanning is as dangerous as UV from the sun, and increases the incidence of melanoma, have now raised serious questions as to the health risks associated with this indoor tanning method [5].
Investigation and study as to the risks of ultraviolet light should lead individuals to be extremely cautious regarding UV exposure.
UV radiation, whether from natural or artificial sources, damages the skin. Below are some of the short and long term side effects of UV exposure [6]:

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