Melanoma is a malignant of which are found predominantly in skin but also in the bowel and the . It is one of the rarer types of but causes the majority of skin cancer related deaths. Despite many years of intensive laboratory and clinical research, the sole effective cure is surgical resection of the primary tumor before it achieves a thickness of greater than 1 mm.
After an excessive exposure to UV the skin could develop sunburn. After time skin and eye diseases can develop, but this would only occur if the skin or eyes are exposed to too much UV.
How the Skin Tans
Our natural skin colour is determined by skin pigment also known as melanin. When our skin is exposed to UV cells deep in our skin initiate a process where more melanin is produced. The cells turn brown and rise to the skins surface producing a tan. UV also thickens the outer layers of the skin. This is the body’s way of building up protection to UV and to avoid burning.
People react very differently to UV rays; people with darker skin brown more easily as the skin produce melanin more readily. People with fairer skin find it harder to tan from sunlight or from using a sun bed; this is due to the body producing very little melanin. If the body stays in the sun to long, sunburn will result. Our skin repairs itself but if this happens to often, it may become exhausted and future sunburns may result in permanent damage to the skin.
UV and your health…
Using sun beds can be safe if you follow certain rules that are given with the machine. One example of this is a Instruction book that comes with a Phillip sun bed.
UV sessions:
You may have one UV session per day, over a period of five to ten days. After such a course you may rest the skin for a while. Approximately one month after a course your skin will have lost much of the tan. On the other hand you may prefer to have one or two sessions per week after a course has elapsed in order to keep a tan. What ever you may prefer, make sure that you do not exceed the maximum amount of tanning hours. For this solarium the maximum is 26 hours = 1560 minutes.
Imagine that you take a 10 day course with 10 minutes session on the first day and 25 minutes’ sessions on the other nine following days. The entire course includes (1 x 10 minutes) + (9 x 25 minutes) = 235 minutes.
Over a year you may have six of these courses. (6 x 235 minutes = 1410 minutes)
Everyone has different types of skin which consists of 6 categories. The types allow you to see how much your skin can stay in the sun before damage can happen.
Risks
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation in is the most prominent and universal cancer causing agent in our environment. Sun beds can cause skin cancers, Skin ageing, eye damage and other adverse health effects to the human body. Any excessive exposure to UV, not just from sun beds, can result in structural damage to human skin. After a period of time the damage can be due to burning, fragility and scarring and in the long term can cause Photoageing There is no evidence yet to that exposure to UV radiation from sun beds is any less harmful to UV exposure from the sun. Photoageing, caused by the breakdown of collagen in the skin by UV, manifests itself as wrinkling and loss of elasticity.
People think that children I less likely to be affected by the sun or sunburn but they are wrong. Childhood exposure to UV light could double the Childs risk of developing melanoma later in life. This is why sun bed manufactures introduced a law which stated that children under the age of 16 shouldn’t use sun beds.
Who is most at risk?
People that are most at risk using sun beds are those with fair or tender skin, people with skin type 1, as they have a higher risk of suffering from problems.
In 2003 ICNIRP published recommends against the use of UV-emitting appliances for tanning or other non-medical purposes. ICNIRP states that the following people/groups are at particularly high risk of incurring adverse health effects from UV, and therefore should be particularly counseled against the use of tanning appliances:
- People who have skin phototypes I or II;
- Children (i.e., less than 18 years of age);
- People who have large numbers of nevi (moles);
- Persons who tend to freckle;
- Individuals who have a history of frequent childhood sunburn;
- People who have pre-malignant or malignant skin lesions;
- People who have sun-damaged skin;
- Those who are wearing cosmetics. These may enhance their sensitivity to UV exposure; and
- Persons taking medications. In this case they should seek advice from their physician to determine if the medication will make them UV-sensitive.
Many people become addicted to tanning, which is unofficially known as . Some of the symptoms of include a false belief that he or she is too pale, and will therefore exceed the limits of UV exposure. The individual will seek out UV exposure indoors or outdoors, with the fruitless goal of obtaining a tan that is dark enough for his or her tastes. This condition is likely to be comorbid with .
Health benefits
As we already know sun bed use may increase vitamin D synthesis but there are many other reason why the use of sun beds can be good for the body.
Apart from getting a tan many people say that using a sun beds helps them to relax and can help course SAD. SAD, or Seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression or winter blues is an , or , . Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience symptoms in the or . The condition in the summer is often referred to as Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder – Wikipedia definition.
People also use sun beds as medication to treat illnesses such as or ; this is known as UV light therapy. It can also help treat ache but is not a long term solution.
Tanning fakes
Today there are hundreds of cosmetic products on the market that can give you the same result without the risks from sun beds. Some of the products use dyes, chemicals or sugar cane which is also known as dihydroxyacetone.
Even though fake tan is saver than exposure to UV, it is important to be aware that self-tanning lotions offer little protection. So if you're taking a trip outside in the sunshine to show off your new tan, you'll still need to use some sun cream.
Tanning myths
This section has been taken from the Cancer Research UK website and shows what people think are reasons for using sun beds. People use sun beds for many different reasons. Here are some of the most common tanning myths…
"Sunbed tanning is safer than sun tanning" – False
Sunbeds are not a 'safe' alternative to sun tanning. Like the sun, sunbeds give out UV rays which damage the DNA in your skin cells. In fact, the intensity of UV rays from sunbeds can be up to 10-15 times higher than that of the midday sun.
"I tan safely by building my sunbed tan gradually" - False
Unfortunately, using sunscreen or limiting your time on a sunbed will not protect your skin from damage and ageing. In fact, exposing yourself to short intense bursts of UV rays on a sunbed is one of the fastest ways to damage your skin.
"A tan will protect me from the sun on holiday" - False
A tan offers very limited protection from sunlight or burning. At most, a sunbed tan is equivalent to a factor 4 sunscreen. Not enough to keep you safe in the sun.
"Being tanned is a sign of health" - False
The simple fact that your skin has changed colour is a sign that it has been damaged. Using sunbeds before the age of 35 increases your risk of developing skin cancer by up to 75%. UV from sunbeds not only harms your skin, if you don't wear goggles it can also damage your eyes. UV eye damage can lead to irritation, conjunctivitis and even eye cancer.
After myth from a different site says:
“Getting a tan helps to clear up skin” - False
Even though a tan may temporarily cover the redness of acne, there's no evidence that having tanned skin helps to clear up acne. People who tan in the sun or in tanning booths or beds run the risk of developing dry, irritated, or even burned skin. They're also at increased risk of premature aging and developing skin cancer.
From this section we find that people don’t really know a lot about sun beds and the effects they have on the human body. So should more be done to help people find out what effect sun beds really have?
Resources
