An alternative to sunbathing is to use a sun bed which works by generating ultraviolet light that can be used indoors. The rays of a sun bed are very similar to the rays used in the sun, these rays are extremely dangerous. It makes the skin age dramatically, to avoid the affects people should either avoid the sun or be using a sun block cream. Many people do not know the risks being taken by just going out in the sun, but most people are unaware of the extensity of the risks.
"If people are considering using sun beds they should be aware of the risks as well as the perceived benefits before going ahead.”
Dr. Annabel Bentley,
assistant medical director,
Bupa Group
For and against
The UV rays from the sun creates melanin that determines your skin colour, it stimulates endorphins which are your happiness hormones which therefore make people feel happy and good about themselves.
The sunshine makes people feel happy and can reduce the risk of depression. It helps generate vitamins and helps your body combat various illnesses. The sun makes people feel happy because of feeling good and looking great by having a sun tan.
When people are not deliberately sunbathing sunburn can still happen, and sometimes people who develop skin cancer have not in the past sunbathed a lot in their lives. Even if you are using sun protection it can not be 100% affective to protect your skin against the harmful affects, so people should not stay in the sun for a long amount of time.
“It’s mostly the lack of awareness that people don’t stay out of the sun or use protection, because if they really knew how close they were to developing skin cancer, surely they would do something about it now while they had the chance.”
Conclusion
I believe that a tan looks great. The sun makes people feel happy and good about themselves and releases happy endorphins in people, but people just don’t realise how risky spending time in the sun is. The UV rays can cause considerable damage to the skin cells and can lead to skin cancer. So why are people still sunbathing for hours on end?
Because most people just don’t believe it will happen to them and are oblivious to the results. The damages and affects of sunbathing should be more aware to people so they know the risks and how to prevent all this from happening to them.
Therefore, I would advise other people to stay out of the sun wherever possible for long amounts of time and take special procedures to avoid the affects. Even though it may seem safer sun beds can cause as much danger as the sun so the risks are the same.
After weighing up the risks and benefits I have decided that its not worth the risk of having a good tan for a few weeks, when you wrinkles could appear from the damage and severe skin damage at a very early age or even develop skin cancer and live with that for the rest of your life.
Bibliography
Websites
- http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_radiation
- http://images.google.co.uk/imgres
Books
- Oxford children’s encyclopaedia
Magazine articles
