TEEN TRENDS: TEENS & TANNING BEDS

(This blog is written to inform parents and others of disturbing trends of teenagers.)

Who loves to have a great tan? Go ahead, raise your hand. And why not? Hollywood makes tanned skin appear attractive and healthy. But are the ways used to achieve that golden tan really healthy?

Tanned skin is still sought after, especially by adolescent girls, and they continue to spend hours basking in the sun or laying in tanning beds, and this behavior is dangerous to their health.

UVA & UVB RAYS: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

UVA RAYS - Long wave solar waves, 220-400 nanometers.

• UVA RAYS go through windows, light clothes, and car windshields.
• UVA RAYS are present all year round, even winter.
• UVA RAYS are responsible for aging. They penetrate the skin deep, causing wrinkling and leathering of the skin, but are less likely to cause sunburn.
• UVA RAYS exacerbates UVB RAYS carcinogenic effects, but may also cause skin cancer, including melanoma.
• New high pressure sunlamps produce as much as 12 times the amount of UVA RAYS, as the amount received from the sun.

UVB RAYS - Short wave solar waves, 290-320 nanometers.

• UVB RAYS are more potent than UVA RAYS in producing sunburn.
• UVB RAYS are considered the main cause of skin cancer (basal & squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma).
• UVB RAYS are called the "tanning rays", as UVB RAYS stimulate the melanocyte cells to produce the brown pigment melanin.
• Large doses of UVB RAYS will cause acute sunburn, redness, burning sensation, and blistering.

FACTS:

• One out of 3 teenagers say they tan because it looks healthy. More than 80% of teens said they look better with a tan.
• 37% of white female teens and over 11% white male teens between the ages of 13 and 19 have used tanning beds.
• A 2002 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that using tanning beds increased the risks of skin cancer - 2.5 times for squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times for basal cell carcinoma - compared to nonusers.
• Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which causes eye and skin cancer.
• Teens who visit a tanning bed 10 times or more a year have 7 times greater incidence of melanoma.
• The risk of skin cancer jumps by 75% when teens use tanning beds.
• Doctors are seeing more teenagers with melanoma; something that used to be rare.
• Studies show tanning bed use caused a 20% increased risk of developing melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer.
• Melanoma is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their twenties. In the past, skin cancer was highest in people over 75.
• Despite warnings about the risk of skin cancer from too much sun exposure, most teens don't use sunblock and will endure sunburns for a tan.

We know that (some) teenagers can be very vain, especially girls. It's hard to get the message across to them that sun exposure will cause skin cancer 5, 10, 20 years from now. They only care about the present and how they look today.
Check your skin often for abnormal looking moles.

The American Cancer Society encourages teens and adults to use self tanning lotions as the best option for getting a tan. Talk to your teen about how serious "basking in the sun" or tanning bed use can be and make sure you set a good example, because it is just as dangerous for adults to sunbathe or use tanning beds.

*Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to use tanning beds, and these facilities could be fined up to $500.00 if caught letting teens use their tanning beds. Do you think tanning beds should be illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to use?