Sun Beds Cancer Risk

With summer coming, some of us may already be looking to the tanning shops to get a nice healthy base tan to work from. But according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, using sun lamps can seriously increase the risk of developing some forms of skin cancer.

The researchers interviewed nearly 900 patients with basal cell skin cancer or squamous cell skin cancer. Those who had used tanning equipment were nearly 2.5 times more likely than normal to have developed squamous cell skin cancer. Risk was even greater for those who had started young with patients who started using tanning devices before the age of 20 3.6 times more likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer.

Dr James Spencer of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York claims regular tanning is much worse for you than getting sunburnt occasionally. "It is actually worse to go to the tanning parlour and get a little bit each day".

However, Dr Joseph A. Levy, speaking on behalf of the Indoor Tanning Association spoke up for the modern tanning industry, claiming most of the respondents would have used sun lamps at home before 1975 as opposed to modern tanning shop facilities. He claimed the study "is not an indictment of commercial tanning facilities in any way".

Tuesday, 12 March 2002