While I'd love to see the primary research, I'm glad this is making the front page of MSNBC. Since I wasn't one of those kids who was outside ALL the time and certainly didn't suffer numerous blistering sunburns as a child, there's a pretty good chance (besides the luck of genetics) my melanoma is related to the two or three periods of a couple of months in college and during my brief stint in IL (hey, there's not much to do in Peoria when you don't know a soul!) when I used tanning beds regularly.
(sidebar: That is embarrassing to admit. Really embarrassing.)
In a nutshell:
"A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30....Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which cause skin and eye cancer, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research....as use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer. In Britain,
I have a suspicious spot on my left shin that's my prime focus for my check up in September. Let's hope it doesn't turn into another 4 inch scar.
Wow. So yeah, at Relay, I had to do some public service announcements and one was about protecting your skin from the sun. I cracked a joke about how "The only sun tan you should have is the one you were born with." I guess there really isn't any safe way to do it unless it comes in a spray.
ReplyDeleteKeepin' my fingers crossed for you--we need some good, non-cancer news now.
I saw this on the Today show this morning. It's scary! I'm not proud of it, but I tanned for a couple years after high school. Now that I've had a couple benign (thank goodness!) spots froze off, I am a sunscreen fool!
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